


bagay tayo hindi tao

by arsatine



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Fake/Pretend Relationship, M/M, Mild Language, bc im trash pls stan seoksoo okah, despite the title this fic is in eng, hoshi and woozi are stupid headasses, im sorry, might be moving a bit fast since im not good at slow burn, minghao and jun are the perf annoying couple, minor!seoksoo, okay wow thanks pls read, roomates!gyuhao, roommates!wonhui, there might be implied sexual content idk, theres some swearing and maybe dirty jokes, trying to make it fluff, wonwoo and mingyu are the reason for this mess
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-09
Updated: 2018-04-24
Packaged: 2019-03-13 14:07:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 29,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13572156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arsatine/pseuds/arsatine
Summary: In where Minghao is done and frustrated; Jun happens to be bored; and MinWon are to blame."Can you be my boyfriend because my annoying ass roommate and his annoying ass boyfriend ticked me off so here we are."--the slowburn (?) fake dating au no one asked for





	1. Can you be my boyfriend?

**Author's Note:**

> so pls forgive me if this seems a bit fast bc im not good at dragging things but idk
> 
> also this is my first junhao fic okay 
> 
> pls dont hurt me im sorry
> 
>  
> 
> a/n: the title is a filipino sentence that literally translates to "we're things not people" but "bagay tayo" also means "we belong together" so its like some kind of joke o k a y bc:  
> bagay - things ; belong*  
> tayo - we ; us  
> hindi - no ; not  
> tao - human

Junhui was very, very bored. 

"I never thought I'd say this in my entire life, Jisoo-hyung, but I'd honestly rather be in class right now." Jun groaned, laying down his head on the table as Jisoo, one of the baristas working the shift, came to get his now empty cup of hot chocolate. "Also, one more cup, please."

"Don't you have any projects or anything better to do? If I bring you another cup of hot chocolate, it's gonna be your fifth." Jisoo warned. "This isn't a bar where you can drown your sorrows in your drink, you know."

Jun turned his face towards his jacket, muffling his voice. "Yeah. But it's too early to get drunk and I don't think I can go back to sleep." The barista sighed, taking his tray and walking away. "Fine, but it's your last. Also you used up your employee discount two hot chocos ago." The barista only recieved a muffled groan in reply. 

After a awhile, Jun lifted his head from the table, yawning and rubbing his eyes groggily. "Fuck, did I fall asleep?" He asked Hansol, the other barista with Jisoo. "Yeah, for around 15 minutes. Jisoo-hyung said that your hot choco probably isn't so hot anymore and it's your fault."

He took a sip of the chocolate drink and grimaced. "How is cold hot choco?" Hansol asked from behind the counter, not looking up from the phone game he was playing. "Weird. But still sweet." 

Hansol only hummed in reply. "He also said you can't hangout here the whole day. Go get lunch or something, Jun. It's one in the afternoon."

The chinese boy leaned back on his chair and turned his head to look at the pastries on display. "I'll just eat cake or something." 

"No." Jisoo emerged from the backroom, holding a jar of ground coffee beans. "Get off your lazy ass and go get some food. Then go to the arcade, movies or something. I've seen enough of your face for today."

Jun loudly gasped in reply, touching his chest as if it personally offended him. "Excuse you, hyung, but but my face is a masterpiece and I don't think anyone could get tired of this." He huffed, gesturing to himself. 

Jisoo didn't even bother looking up from where he was. "Shoo, shoo, Jun-ah." 

Jun frowned, gathered his stuff, dropped some money on the table, and walked out the door. "Have fun, Jun-hyung!" Hansol called out after him. Needless to say, he only got a miffed frown in reply. 

It was only when he got outside that he realized he really was hungry. Groaning and too lazy to walk, he simply rounded the corner and went to the ramyeon place just near the coffee shop. 

* * *

Halfway through eating, a boy arrived, and honestly, Jun couldn't care less if it wasn't for the cotton candy hair on the boy's head. He stopped short in the middle of the entrance, eyes scanning over the costumers until he met Jun's gaze.

Jun felt a chill creep up his spine as soon as he saw the boy's eyes rest on his. Well, fuck. Jun's appetite completely dropped as soon as cotton-candy-guy started walking towards him, face expressionless.

'Jun, calm down. He might have the wrong guy. After all, why would a stranger walk up to you.' Jun's brain babbled inecessantly as he looked back at his ramyeon, swirling around his noodles. 'Well, you _are_ pretty handsome so-' Cotton-candy-guy pulled out a chair and sat across him, eyes flitting across his face. 

"Like what you see?" Ah, fuck. Jun facepalmed himself mentally, silently cursing himself for slipping up like that.

To his reply, cotton-candy-guy said, "Actually, yes." Jun choked. "Can you be my boyfriend?" At this point, Jun was dying. The guy suddenly looked worried at Jun's sudden coughing fit, going behind him and clapping his back.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I meant a fake boyfriend." Cotton-candy-guy rushed out as soon as he sat back on his chair. "The name's Myungho. I'm so sorry for springing this on you." 

Jun shook his head. "It's fine. It's not like I have anything else to do anyway. And before you freak out, I'm single _and_ gay." Cott-- Myungho blushed. "You really should check those two things before you run up to a stranger and ask them to be your boyfriend."

"..Yeah. I sort of forgot. You're the first option I took so..." Myungho rubbed his nape in embarrassment. "Thanks for not making me a second choice." Jun replied dryly. "Why don't you ask your friends instead of a complete stranger?" 

"Ahh, well, most of my friends are already taken and most of the single remaining are pining over someone else. It's sort of disgusting sometimes. Well, I've got this bi-ace friend but he's in our friend group and he's like a younger brother to me so, pretty fucking weird."

"Why? You hiding from some of your friends?" Jun asked. Myungho nodded. "Well, my roommate and his boyfriend keeps hanging out at our place lately since his boyfriend lost his key and is waiting for a replacement. So, he waits for his roommate to come home before returning to their place."

Jun hummed lowly. "Sexiled?" Myungho reached for his dumplings. "Sometimes. Third-wheeled most of the time. Toda, my roommate was being a bratty ass and told me that I was just jealous of them so I guess I snapped and told them I had a boyfriend so I had absolutely nothing to be jealous about and well.. here I am."

Jun nodded in agreement. "Here you are." He pushed the remaining two dumplings towards Myungho as he finished off his ramyeon. "You can have the rest. I'll just pay then we'll talk some more." Jun called the waiter for the bill. 

"Oh, and Myungho-ssi? I'll help you."

* * *

"Well, first things first." Jun shoved his hands into his jacket. "My name's Jun. Um, I study at Pledis Uni, a sophomore and I'm majoring in acting and minoring in dance." Myungho hummed in response. "I work as a barista in 20's cafe, I was born in June '96, and uh, I'm chinese? Wen Junhui. My korean name's Moon Joonhwi. And, I don't know. Your turn."

Myungho blinked at him, surprised. "You're chinese? Uhm, me too." Jun raised a brow. "I used my korean name, Seo Myungho. My real name's Xu Minghao. You can call me that instead. I'm a freshman at Pledis Uni and I major in dance. I, um, don't have a part time job per se but I volunteer teach at a dance studio with my friends in exchange that we can use the studio anytime and we get ₩10,000 every week. So, yeah. And um, I was born in 1997, hyung or gē?"

"Either. But wait, then how have we not seen each other already? I minor in dance and you major in it and we study in the same university. What the hell?" Jun laughed. Myun- Minghao smiled as well. "We could be the Campus Chinese Couple. Triple C." Minghao finally laughed at that. "That'd be cool."

"Jun-hyung?" A familiar voice rang out from behind them. Minghao froze, slightly thankful that his hood was up. "Oh? Who's that with you? Your boyfriend?" The voice now had a teasing lilt to it. Jun held Minghao's gaze as if asking him for permission to say yes. He nodded stiffly. 

"Yeah." Jun replied, hand reaching out to hold Minghao's. Meanwhile, Minghao was internally panicking. Why the everloving fuck was Wonwoo-hyung here? "-aren't I supposed to be your bestfriend? I mean, we literally live together, Jun-hyung. How could you forget to tell me?" Wonwoo's voice sounded like he was pouting. Then a new laugh came. Oh fuck. 'I should have known Mingyu was here too.'

"Well, he didn't want to tell anyone else. Wanted to keep it low for a while. Right, baobei?" Minghao suddenly found himself blushing at the chinese endearment. "He's chinese too."

Wonwoo hummed softly. "So.. aren't you going to introduce us?" Mingyu asked expectantly. Jun blinked. "..Right! So, um-" Minghao turned around to face Mingyu and Wonwoo, pulling back his hood. "Hi Wonwoo-hyung. Hi Mingyu."

Wonwoo eyes widened in surprise while Mingyu gasped quite overdramatically while Jun just stood there, looking at Minghao, speechless. "Minghao.. Jun-hyung's your boyfriend?" Wonwoo managed to get out. "Yeah. We've been dating for.. one and a half months already." Minghao found himself being more confident, stepping closer to Junhui and tightening his grip on Jun's hand. 

"My roommate and Jun-hyung.." Mingyu repeated, cocking his head to the side confusedly like the overgrown puppy he is. "Yep."

"Oh. Uh, well.. enjoy your date. Nice seeing you, um, I'll talk to you later okay? Come on, hyung." Mingyu pulled Wonwoo away before the elder could say anything else. 

"Minghao.. were they the one's you were trying to-" Jun started. "Yeah. Um, you're Wonwoo's roommate." 

"Yeah."

"...Such a small world." Minghao laughed breathlessly, leaning his head against Jun's shoulder. "Well, this just makes things harder, I guess."

"Oh man," Jun groaned, lifting his other hand to brush through his hair. "Wonwoo's going to give me such an earful later."

"Sorry." Minghao whispered silently. "Nah, it's okay. It's okay, Minghao." Jun brought down his hand, resting it on Minghao's back, pulling him closer to a hug. "Is this our first PDA as a couple?" Minghao whispered, muffled by Jun's jacket. "Yeah. Cute and oddly sweet, isn't it?"

Minghao only fake gagged in reply as Jun laughed. Both of them didn't comment when Minghao wrapped his other hand around Jun, their hands still clasped together. 

* * *

**jagihao**  
> hyung? gē?

**jagihui**  
> choose one haohao haha

**jagihao**  
> haohao? no  
> minghao? yes

**jagihui**  
> haohao's cute tho :(

**jagihao**  
> ... no

**jagihui**  
> :((((((  
> haohao (minghao)  
> hoho (myungho)  
> lol choose

**jagihao**  
> neither

**jagihui**  
> ill use hoho then

**jagihao**  
> ugh  
> if i knew you were going to be like this

**jagihui**  
> u wound me darling  
> but i dont blame u  
> i know im too irresistible  
> :D

**jagihao**  
> yuck  
> you really like using terms of endearment dont you  
> you literally set our nicknames as jagihao and jagihui

**jagihui**  
> yeah  
> i find it nice  
> dont u like it  
> :(

**jagihao**  
> no no its fine  
> just miss me with that baby babe sweetiepie pumpkin overly cringey shit  
> i aint no one's baby  
> i ain't food either

**jagihui**  
> is baobei jagi darling love ok  
> ?  
> :/

**jagihao**  
> only the three first in the choices you gave me  
> love is too overused

**jagihui**  
> okk ;D  
> jagiya <3  
> oh right do we have to have lunch together or something 

**jagihao**  
> maybe  
> i dont have any lunch plans tommorow but my class ends at 1  
> then at 4 i need to be at the dance studio

**jagihui**  
> ny class ends at 12:30  
> and like the stupid ass i am i have a class at 4:30  
>honestly kms  
> ill just pick u up i guess  
> is that ok

**jagihao**  
> poor u boohoo  
> but yeah 

**jagihui**  
> u sarcastic ass  
> let's go to Jam Jam  
> pizza  
> its also getting late  
> we should sleep

**jagihao**  
> k  
> \+ w o w  
> you changed real quick  
> also getting late my ass  
> it is late  
> its fucking 2 in the morning jun-hyung

**jagihui**  
> thats not that late for me ??  
> 11 is early

**jagihao**  
> u need more sleep then  
> go to sleep

**jagihui**  
> ok  
> night haohao  
> lets talk more abt our "relationship" tomorrow  
> see u

**jagihao**  
> ok  
> night jun gē  
> :)

* * *

"Jun-hyung." Wonwoo said as soon as Jun left his room to get some food. "Ah, fuck. Hi Woo." 

"Don't call me that. Come here." Jun frowned, clutching his ice cream. "I won't bite Wen." Jun cautiously took the other end of the couch away from Wonwoo. "Okay, but I'm not taking any risks, Jeon."

Wonwoo tapped his fingers on the armrest, staying silent as he constructs a sentence in his mind. "Jun-hyung. Um, take care of Minghao. He isn't fragile by any means, no. He can hold his own. It's just he deserves... a lot." Jun opened his mouth to talk but Wonwoo cut him off. "Let me talk. I'm not saying that you're not enough or that you're not good enough. I'm happy for you guys, honestly. But, there has to be a reason why it seemed like you two didn't know about our living situations. Don't lie to him. You usually bring home people as soon as you meet them, whether it's a one night stand or a fling. You don't exactly do relationships, Jun-hyung."

Jun frowned, finger tracing the cap of the ice cream tub mindlessly. "I know how I am, Wonwoo. But Minghao's different." He wasn't exactly lying. Minghao was- is different. Unlike most of Jun's interests, they clicked in quickly, slipping to each other comfortably way too quick than what Jun's used to. 

But he isn't complaining. 

"He's... different. But a good different."

Wonwoo simply raised a brow but decided not to comment on it. "Yeah, it may seem surprising that I haven't brought him back after a month and a half of dating but we take it slow. Not like what I'm used to, but sometimes different is good, right?"

Jun stood up, holding his spoon and ice cream. "I'll go back to my room now. You should go to sleep, Wonwoo." The younger boy sighed. "You too. Don't stay up past four am."

"Yeah, okay _mom_."

* * *

"Hey, darling." Minghao was surprised to see Jun leaning on the wall outside his classroom. "Care to have lunch with me?"

"Don't be greasy. We aren't in some chick-flick." Minghao shoved Jun away. The older guy simply pouts, "I was only trying to be smooth."

Minghao subconsiously curled his hand around the side of Jun's jacket. "You're about as smooth as sandpaper. Also we talked about this yesterday, so um, no. This is not working."

Jun simply laughed in response, his left hand getting Minghao's hand off his jacket and lacing their fingers together. 

Like yesterday, they don't comment on it. 

* * *

"Pineapples don't belong on pizza, Hao." Jun insisted. He and Minghao were currently infront of the counter arguing over what pizza to buy. "They're fruits. Fruits don't- no." 

"Well, at least fruits have higher nutritional value than all meat. Meat, meat, meat." Minghao griped. "You freaking carnivore."

"They're tastier!" 

"You just have a very limited taste vocabulary and I pity you!" 

The cashier on duty watched their banter go back and forth, wondering if he should intervene and say that they have a half pizza choice in which you could have two flavors in one pizza but they barely had any customers this time of day and these two were the only source of entertainment that he had. 

No way he's letting this slip by.

"Seungkwannie?" A familiar voice called him. Seungkwan groaned. Knowing Jeonghan-hyung, he'd probably solve the two boys' problem and poof, there goes his personal entertainment.

"Seungkwannie, why haven't you asked them if they wanted the half pizza instead of making them argue?" Jeonghan confusedly asked. He made his way to the counter and cleared his throat. 

"Um, if you're- wait, Jun?" Jeonghan asked, surprised. His eyes flitted over to their hands which were still clasped together. "Your boyfriend?" He smirked. 

"Jeonghan-hyung?" Jun's eyes widened. "Um, yes. This is my boyfriend- Ow! Minghao!" He rubbed his arm glaring at the younger boy who was wearing a questioning look. "Xu Minghao. This is Yoon Jeonghan-hyung. He's a junior at Pledis and he's Wonwoo's friend." He grumbled.

"I think I've seen you around before but usually it's when my shift ends. Nice meeting you." Jeonghan extended his arm and shook Minghao's hand. "Junnie never mentioned that1 he had a boyfriend."

"We, um. I was away for sometime and well, Jun-gē probably didn't talk about me much because he'd miss me." Minghao replied smoothly. "He's a sap like that."

Jun then not so subtletly stepped on Minghao's foot making the other yelp in pain."Gē?" Jeonghan questioned. "Oh, he's chinese too if you didn't catch that." Jun answered. "Hyung, hawaiian or meat lovers?" 

Jeonghan remembered snippets of the conversation earlier. "Why don't you either just go for a classic cheese or pepperoni or if you want you can put both hawaiian and meat lovers in half a pizza per flavor. It costs slightly more expensive but still relatively cheaper than buying two pizzas." Jeonghan grinned. "I know that you guys, are just like me, broke college students. So?"

"Hawaiian _is_ a classic." Minghao grumbled. "We'll just get a pepperoni. Thanks. Just pay me half, Junhui-gē." The younger brought out his wallet and paid Jeonghan. 

"Thank you." Jeonghan beamed. "Seungkwannie here will bring you your pizza. Enjoy your lunch date." He shot a wink at the two and spun around and ushered Seungkwan into the kitchen. 

"But why?" Jun asked. "Hawaiian pizza is an abomination." Minghao smacked him on the arm and snapped back, 

"Your _face_ is an  abomination. Shut up, gē."

* * *

"I wanna see you dance." Jun remarked casually. "You said you volunteer teach at a dance studio. Can I join a class?" 

Minghao shrugged. "You're probably going to be the oldest student there because my classes are mostly consisting of 13-17 year olds. Plus, you already minor in dance, gē."

"But I wanna see you dance." Jun repeated, half-whining. "I want to watch you dance first." Minghao said.

"No fair. I asked first."

"You're going to be joining my class anyway so... I'll probably get to see you first."

Junhui and Minghao held a staring contest for a short while. Until Junhui replied again.

"Isn't a teacher supposed to demonstrate first?"

"Depends on the class."

Junhui pursed his lips together in a pout and scowled at Minghao. 

"Besides you'll probably meet Soonyoung-hyung first and he'll tell you to demonstrate your style." Minghao continued, shooting a satisfied smirk towards Junhui. 

"Then I'll just watch. Simple. I can always use the 'boyfriend waiting for you to finish up' card." Junhui shrugged.

"Don't. I actually don't want our 'relationship' being public. News travels fast around campus. Speaking of which, why'd you tell Jeonghan-ssi about us even when you probably didn't have to?"

Junhui looked up at Minghao confused. "Is that why you pinched me earlier? Which hurt a lot, by the way. Me, Wonwoo, and Mingyu go here a lot so... Jeonghan knows those two. We can't have him blowing our cover. My friend circle is pretty close-knit so don't be alarmed if I introduce you to all my friends as my boyfriend. You got to get used to it."

Minghao hummed with a disappointed tone in his voice. He didn't reply to Junhui's statement, only opting to swirl a part of the pizza crust in his sundae instead. 

"Do you regret it?" Junhui asked, his slice of pizza forgotten. He stared at Minghao expectantly, his eyes and expression unreadable and stoic. "If it's a burden, it would be better to stop the lie now rather than later when it's too late."

Minghao dropped his gaze back to the sundae, where the pizza crust was slowly starting to sink into the cold substance. "I- no. I don't think I... It's tiring but it's okay. You're okay."

Junhui still kept his eyes trained on the younger boy. "You know you could just tell them to stop bugging you about being single, right? You don't have to go through this unecessary drama."

"Do you regret helping? Is this unecessary drama for you, Jun-gē?" Minghao replied, his tone a tad sharper, but he still didn't look at Jun. "I'm just shy and a bit anxious maybe, okay?"

Jun dropped his stare and fiddled with his pizza instead. "Okay."

The next few moments were filled with an awkward silence, only the sound of cutlery and food and small talk from other tables. 

"Is this our first fight as a couple?" The younger boy asked meekly, peering up through his bangs. Jun smiles and just like that the tension's gone. 

"I wouldn't consider this a fight, but I guess so." Jun replied, getting the olives Minghao stowed away on the side of his plate. "Don't waste food. Also, who the hell dips their pizza crust in ice cream?" Minghao playfully pouts and thank god, they're back to normal. 

Nobody comments on the fact their legs were pressed against each other under the table and how they managed to be so comfortable again in a short span of time after a tense period. 

Jun doesn't say anything about how he resisted the urge to pet and cuddle Minghao after the boy looked up at him shyly through his bangs. Minghao keeps his lips shut after his heart skips a beat when Jun smiles him. 

No one needs to know anyway.


	2. libraries are less boring

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Enter Soonyoung, Seokmin, Jihoon, and WonHui's past arrangement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THANKS WAS SO FUCKING LIT OKAY
> 
> JISOO MY BBY WAW FUCKING SHIT HE KILLED IT SO MANY LINES IM PROUD
> 
> IM SO HAPPY JUN HAD THIS SCENE FOR HIMSELF ONLY (idc if the entire perf team haf one jk they all killed it i love them) BUT IM STILL PISSED AT PLEDIS FOR GIVING HIM ONE LINE AND HE HAD TO SHARE IT WHAT THE FUCK OKAY PLEDIS FITE ME
> 
> MINGHAO IS BACK IM- I MISSED HIM SO FREAKING MUCH AND MINGHAO AS CENTER YES PLS + MULL8 YES BICH
> 
> WONWOW HOLY SHIT OKAY HOW CAN SVT HAVE 13 VISUALS WHAT + MY FRIEND SCOUPS LOOKED LIKE A SUGAR DADDY CMON PPL LETS BE REAL HE DID THO H OL Y SH I T
> 
> OKAY BUT THE BEAT AND THE CHOREO WAS AN ABSOLUTE BOP THANK YOU SELF PRODUCING ANGELS 
> 
> THANK YOU SEVENTEEN!!!  
> 고맙다 세븐틴!!!!!! <3

"I wish I never knew you two were together." Wonwoo groaned from his spot in the library, Mingyu, who had his face pressed against his boyfriend's shoulder, nodded in agreement. 

The four were currently in the library studying while waiting for some of their other friends to arrive. Well, Wonwoo was _trying_ to study, Mingyu had already given up, and Junhui and Minghao never even started. 

Instead, the couple started with competing for finding the thickest book in the library, trying to make a jenga tower out of ballpens, and after a few more, they were simply slouched upon their seats, sharing embarrassing stories about Wonwoo and Mingyu. 

"Junhui, no. Stop." Wonwoo said, throwing a balled up piece of paper to the older's head. Junhui simply laughs and continues to tell Minghao about how Wonwoo was so shitfaced drunk after going home from a party and still attempting to do his night routine ending up with Wonwoo brushing his hair with his toothbrush. 

Mingyu snickers along with Minghao, earning him a slap on the head. "Stop laughing, Gyu. And you two? Honestly, I've never seen a couple more annoying and made for each other like you too. It's so fucking creepy. Stop."

Both boys craned their heads to look at Wonwoo at the same time, making the latter grimace at them.

The library door slams open, making the librarian glare at the newcomers which were a group of three students who were walking towards the group's table. 

"Hello! I bring food!" Soonyoung greets cheerily, paying no mind to the librarian's death stare towards his back. "Oh god," Wonwoo started, "make him stop." 

"Soonyoung, shut up. You too, Seokmin." The smallest of the group, Lee Jihoon, grumbles. "I didn't even say anything!" The youngest of the trio exclaims. "Yeah, but you'll be noisy anyway so I'd tell you to shut it now."

"Touché."

Minghao ignores the three and grabs two burgers for him and  Jun, who accepts it gratefully and nodding his head in thanks towards the group. Soonyoung pouts at Minghao but grins at Jun. "Hey, haven't I seen you around campus before? I'm not good with faces though, but you stand out." 

"He knows he's handsome, Kwon. Don't inflate his ego." Wonwoo grumbles, opening his mouth as Mingyu feeds him a fry. "He minors in dance though?" Mingyu continues.

Soonyoung snaps his fingers in recognition. "Yeah! You're the hot dancer that practices in Room 5B, right? You're quite well-known but no one actually gets your name. I usually use 2A so I don't get to see you a lot but I've seen you dance once. You're really amazing, don't worry. I'm Kwon Soonyoung sometimes known as Hoshi in competitions or showcases. I'm not that big of a deal, though. If you didn't guess, I major in dance."

Jun's eyes widened in recognition. "Holy shit. You're the Hoshi? Man, don't sell yourself short. I'm probably mediocre compared to you, you're like one of the best dancers in the school, or maybe even in the district. I-I'm Wen Junhui, by the way."

"Wait." Minghao interrupts, a frown on his face. "You've seen him before? Then how come I've never se-" Junhui suddenly coughs loudly, clapping his hand on Minghao's shoulder. "Uh... are you okay?" 

Junhui ends his abrupt coughing fit realistically, clearing his throat as he did so. He grins at Minghao, albeit a bit fake and murmurs something in Mandarin. 

"Oh. ...He's okay." Minghao says to their slightly worried friends. "What were you saying Minghao?" Soonyoung continues. The former pales a bit, looking at Junhui who only shrugs at him sympathetically.

"Um, how come I- I... You never mentioned anything?" Minghao lamely finishes. "I did? Once?? I came to the practice room saying something about how I wanted this guy to be in our unit since he was so damn good (Junhui blushes at that) and you only waved me off. I rarely saw Junhui after that so... Why? What does it matter to you?"

Mingyu snaps out of his conversation with Seokmin to answer. "Hyung, they're dating." Minghao suddenly kicks Jun under the table making the latter yelp loudly. Junhui glares at the younger who was glaring at Mingyu.

"You didn't have to kick me for Mingyu's fault." The elder hisses in mandarin under his breath, rubbing his attacked shin. "Shut up." Minghao hisses back, resolutely glaring at the side of Mingyu's head. "I had to let out my frustration." 

"What?" Jihoon asks, confused. "Minghao's single. Right? He's always been a single loner. No offense." 

Now Soonyoung, Jihoon, and Seokmin were now looking between the two chinese boys, who were having a hushed mandarin conversation, with utter confusion. 

"I thought so too." Wonwoo replies, not taking his eyes off his textbook. "Until a week ago when I saw both of them in the park. And I regret it because they're absolutely haunting me."

"You never looked like you had a boyfriend though." Soonyoung says accusingly at Minghao. "I wanted to keep it under wraps? I guess. But since the cat's out of the bag, I'm making the most out of it. I guess." Minghao replies, pinching Junhui's arm harshly.

Soonyoung smiles, all teeth straight at Jun. "Don't worry, I'm not going to go all protective friend on you. You're cool." Junhui manages a smile, stomping on Minghao's foot. "Thanks?"

"Stop it." He hisses to the other who was ready to retaliate and moves his seat a bit farther.

Jihoon stares at him before biting out of a chocolate bar. "I'm not about to do that either because it's too fucking overused and I'm pretty sure Minghao can handle himself. Soonyoung forgot to introduce us earlier. I'm Lee Jihoon, majoring in music production. This one's," he jerked his thumb towards Seokmin, "Lee Seokmin. Majors in theatre."

Seokmin waves at him beaming. "I do think we've met before. You're Shua-hyung's coworker at 20's?" Jun nods. "You... wait for him sometimes for his shift to end? Am I correct?"The former nods this time.

Minghao frowns even more. "You all knew Jun-gē?" Wonwoo looks at him with a question in his mind but decides to not ask it instead. "The world is a small place, Minghao. This campus is even smaller. Get used to it."

Dissatisfied, Minghao opts to scowl at Junhui who only manages to shrug.

* * *

"Okay." Junhui whispers, leaning closer to Minghao again and propping his chin on his palm. "What's the deal with the two?" He asked, looking over at Soonyoung and Jihoon who were whisper-arguing about a project.

"Unresolved sexual and romantic tension. Childhood bestfriends. Actual couple goals if they got their heads out their asses. Both stupid, overworking, hypocritical headasses that depend on each other. Need I say more?" Minghao responds, sticking his tongue out in concentration as he adds a new card to his tower. He managed to coax out a deck of cards from Seokmin and after a couple rounds of Solitaire, he started making a house, which was very close to reaching one foot tall.

"Yeah, actually." Jun replies, watching Soonyoung envelop a grumbling Jihoon in his arms. Anyone watching definitely wouldn't have missed the fond smile that made its way onto the smaller boy's lips as soon as his head pressed against Soonyoung's chest. But damn, Jun thought as Jihoon pushed himself off Soonyoung and immediately replaced his smile with a scowl, Jihoon's an amazing actor. "I'm intrigued."

Minghao glanced at the two before grimacing in disgust. "Not here."He pushes his chair away, grabs Junhui's arm, and pulls him to by the bookshelves, over to the end of the library. 

As soon as they reached the end of the library, Minghao slides down to sit against one of the bookshelves, pulling out a really thick, hard-bound book onto his lap. He glances down at it and laughs softly. "Hey, I won." 

Jun laughs, shaking his head as he slips down beside Minghao. "Congratulations. Here's your prize." He pats his pockets for a prize, but came up empty-handed. Instead, he leans in and pecks the younger on the cheek, leaving him surprised.

"Oh, wait. Look, I found a piece of gum! Here-" Junhui stops short his hand lifting the gum suspended in air. Minghao's ears were very pink and he stared blankly at Junhui. "You don't like gum?"

Minghao stays quiet, his cheeks tinging pink as well. He plucks the gum off Jun's hand, unwraps it, and stuffs it into his mouth, his gaze shifting to the book on his lap.

He mumbles something, something that made his a bit more pink and made Junhui lean in closer. "What?"

"Thanks for the gum." Minghao whispers. "And the kiss, I guess." He follows a bit more softly. 

Jun suddenly realizes his actions and jerks back, blushing as well. "You're... welcome?" A short silence settles over them and Jun can't help but feel a bit giddy, noticing that the situation seems like two children with puppy crushes on each other. 

Instead, of saying something about it, he clears his throat and reminds Minghao of the real reason why they came to the back of the library. Minghao punches his arm and they're back to normal.

"I dragged you here because I'm not going to be gossiping about those two with them flirting in front of me." Minghao grimaces in mock disgust. "So, they're basically a mess. I said they'd be literal couple goals if they were a couple because Jihoon-hyung is an amazing-ass dancer (which is so damn unfair) and he probably learned it with Soonyoung-hyung. And Soonyoung-hyung is unfairly both an amazing rapper and singer. Put them together and I quote their one song, '호시-우지 combi.' They'd be perfect if they weren't such headasses." 

"So, here's the thing. Soonyoung-hyung confessed last year. And he got shot down. Badly. Simply because Jihoon-hyung panicked. He confessed properly with chocolates and shit, and all Jihoon said was 'I can't,' then ran away." Both of them grimaced simultaneously. "Yeah. Not even an 'I'm sorry,' or anything. They didn't talk for a month until Soonyoung-hyung greeted Jihoon-hyung again like nothing had happened. Painful to watch."

"Fast forward a couple months later, Soonyoung-hyung introduces his boyfriend, Seokmin." Jun gaped at Minghao, mouthing out the name. "Yep. Same Seokmin. Jihoon-hyung gritted his teeth through the whole affair until they broke it off after 3 months of dating. But obviously, they remained close friends. Seokmin confessed to me that they never actually liked each other that way and that Soonyoung-hyung only did that to prove to Jihoon-hyung to make things less awkward. Big mistake. Now, Soonyoung-hyung continues to have a crush the size of space and Jihoon-hyung is stuck knowing that Soonyoung-hyung has moved on."

Junhui breaks out into small peals of laughter, grabbing onto Minghao's shoulder. "What kind of shitty drama are they in?"Minghao grinned as well. "A very shitty one."

"It's horrible to watch two people hopelessly pine after one another. Oh god, Mingyu and Wonwoo." Jun breaks off, expression pained. Minghao nods, scrunching up his nose. "Horrible shit. Never want to go through that ever again."

Minghao groans, leaning against Jun. "Mingyu once came home crying about how hot Wonwoo looked in a beanie and bomber jacket. Crying. With like literal tears." Jun patted his head sympathetically. "You'll never be able to top me coming home to Wonwoo moaning Mingyu's name in his room. It was so _loud,_ Hao." He emphasized, with dead eyes. "They weren't together then. And Mingyu... he wasn't even over."

"Holy shit." Minghao whispers, eyes widened in fear. "You mean..." Junhui nods dejectedly. "I'm sorry. Did your mornings get ruined by their... sounds too?" Jun stares at the younger with a deadpan expression. "We have the worst friends."

"I'll toast to that."

They clink their imaginary glasses together. Then they spend some more time against the bookshelves, exchanging horrible experiences with their friends. 

"-yeah it was horrible. Joshua-hyung wouldn't stop tickling me and we were in the middle of campus grounds. I probably looked stupid." Minghao grins, cheeks starting to hurt from smiling. "You always do anyway, gē." 

Junhui smirks, looking michievous, "Really?" He lunges towards Minghao playfully, fingers digging into the other boy's sides, Minghao laughing soundlessly, his eyes scrunched up, short breaths escaping him.

"St- stop!" Minghao laughed breathlessly, grabbing at Junhui's shoulders trying to push the other boy off him. 

Junhui complies, collapsing on top of the younger boy, drawing out his phone and chuckling softly. "Hao. It's almost been an hour since we left." Minghao wraps his arms around Junhui's neck, placing his chin upon the elder's head. "Mmm, just a few more minutes, gē. I suddenly feel comfortable on the floor."

They stayed that way for a few more minutes, Jun listening to the steady thump of Minghao's heart. "C'mon. Up you go. Let's go back." Jun said, tapping Minghao's thigh.

They straightened out their crumpled clothes and went back to the group, who greeted them with knowing smirks or disgusted grimaces. 

"Wow, Hao." Mingyu comments, looking over the couple. "Never pegged you to be the thirsty type. Like you seriously couldn't wait until we finish up here? Or do you have a list or something because damn." 

Wonwoo thumped his boyfriend on the back, only grimacing at the two. "Just hoped you two used protection." Soonyoung cackles at Wonwoo's statement while the two chinese boys simply stood there with matching confused expressions on their faces. 

Junhui realized it first.

"No. No, no, no. Um, we didn't- no." He babbled out, turning pink. "We just talked. Yeah? I mean, yeah. We talked about something. No, Soonyoung-ah, Seokmin-ah. Stop smirking at us like that. " 

Soonyoung and Seokmin didn't stop smirking though and Jihoon just raised a brow. "Why're you so defensive, Jun?"

Minghao turned to Jun, still not getting the situation. "What are they talking about?" He whispers ferverently, pulling Jun down to take a seat. 

"Minghao-ah, stop acting innocent. We all know you're not." Seokmin laughs. Junhui only buries his head further in his hands. Only then did Minghao realize. 

"What more explanation would your matching mussed up hair and slightly flushed faces say?" Wonwoo interjected before Minghao could get a word out. "You did look pretty impatient dragging Jun away, earlier."

"No..." Minghao groans. "I swear, Jun-gē was saying the truth. We were just talking. Nothing more, promise." Mingyu hums, obviously nit buying Minghao's words. "Sure, Jan. Oh, wait." He stills, a large grin making his way to Mingyu's face. "Sure, Jun." Mingyu, Soonyoung, and Seokmin burst into laughter simultaneously, making the librarian shush them loudly with a glare on her face. 

"Shut up, you three." Wonwoo snaps at them, then he turns to the horrified couple. "We all have needs, I know. But there's always a time and place for everything."

Jun makes a strangled sort of sound.

* * *

After leaving the library, Soonyoung and Jihoon went off together, Seokmin headed off to 20's, and so the initial four were left behind again. 

Jun and Minghao were still flustered to say the least. Which is why, when Jun stammered out a feeble excuse about leaving something behind om campus,  it didn't surprise the two. Minghao however, gripped Jun's arm hard and cursed at him in Mandarin before letting him leave.

He walked a step behind the couple, typing in as many curses and complaints as he could in his private chat with Jun. Until he caught a snippet of their conversation. "-bet Jun tops." Wonwoo smirks. 

"Yeah, sure he's got the looks at shit but Minghao's a no nonsense kinda guy. He isn't one to let anyone top him. Besides, you see how he pulled Jun back there?" Mingyu replies. "You don't know how hot Jun gets, Gyu." Wonwoo slips back in easily. Mingyu tightens his jaw at Wonwoo's statement. "Don't worry though, I'd choose you in a heartbeat. But still, bets on Jun."

Minghao chokes on air. "What. Are you talking about?" He rasps out, ears a tad pink. "Your love life under the sheets, Minghao. We're curious."

"There is no lovelife under the sheets or any shit like that." He mutters, trying to turn back to his phone but he knows his attention is now on those two. "We haven't slept together." They both look at Minghao, unconvinced.

"I swear!" Minghao exclaims, emphasizing with his arms. "Why won't you believe me?" 

"Because you haven't been laid in like forever, and we know Jun's cocky." Mingyu smirked triumphantly at his pun. "I'm pretty sure your last good lay was in senior  high. With you know..."

Minghao groans at the pun that's about to follow soon. "Don't say it, I swear to fuck's sake, Ki-"Mingyu's grin goes wider and he finishes the joke. "..Lay." 

Minghao groans dejectedly, not finding any comfort from Wonwoo who snickered along with his boyfriend on the joke. Why the hell did Mingyu have to bring that up? He was dumb and stupid and irrational and stuff like that had to be left alone.

Lay or Zhang Yixing was this hot upperclassman in Minghao's dance class when he was in highschool. He was an amazing dancer that focused on balance too much (it became a running inside joke between the students of the dance class) and was a member of a dance group called EXO. Well, naturally, Minghao had a stupid schoolboycrush on him (his words exactly) and would actually stay late just watching Lay dance. 

One fateful night, in a crowded house filled with hormonal teenagers, smoke and alcohol, the last hurrah for seniors and the first party Mingyu had successfully managed to drag Minghao to. Surprisingly, alumni such as the hot and amazing god-like being called Zhang Yixing (Mingyu's words) attended the party and since Minghao was drunk by the time, managed to grab his crush's attention by having this amazing ass dance performance on the table, and yes, after that he got laid pretty well. 

Unlike all awkward one-night-stands, Yixing didn't ditch Minghao and the younger even managed to snag one date before they completely parted ways. Last time he heard of Lay, he'd gotten a boyfriend within his own dance group. Good for him.

"Oh my god," Mingyu straightened up, apparently having realized something. "Yixing-hyung is chinese. Jun-hyung is chinese. What's more, they're older than you. Wow, Hao. So your type are chinese guys older than you. Creepy." Minghao punches him on the arm. "Yuck, don't call me that. So unoriginal. And don't put it that way, you sound fucking creepy."

Mingyu pouts but Wonwoo points out, "Jun calls you Hao." Minghao didn't respond directly, avoiding the elder's gaze. "Well, he's unoriginal."

"Let me just give you a heads up. You know what type of person I am and you know what type of person Jun is, right?" Wonwoo leans in closer, throwing an arm around Minghao. "Wonwoo. Don't bring that up." Mingyu growls, voice suddenly low. Wonwoo ignores his boyfriend and whispers in his ear, "Well, he topped me. And let me tell you, he's amazing."

Minghao freezes and stares at Wonwoo. The latter had a teasing smirk on which would have made Minghao think that he was joking if it weren't for Mingyu's uncharacteristic scowl. 

"Don't worry." Wonwoo follows up quickly. "We were only friends with benefits for a week during our freshie year. Fresh highschool grads with raging hormones. Then I met Mingyu." He tosses a smile toward Mingyu which the latter ignored.

Wonwoo yelps in surprise as Mingyu grips his waist tightly but still keeping his boyfriend a distance away. "Minghao, go to Wonwoo's apartment. I'm sure your boyfriend will let you in." 

Minghao scrunches his nose upon realizing the implications of Mingyu's words. Gross. "Just stay off my room, my stuff, and the kitchen. I know the couch is hopeless already. You own a goddamn bed, Mingyu." He sends a tight-lipped smile towards Wonwoo and heads east.

* * *

Only it was when Minghao was infront of Wonwoo and Jun's apartment ready to knock had he realized that it would be the first time going to Wonwoo's place since he met Jun. He couldn't help but recall Wonwoo's words from earlier, the sentence repeating itself.

He contemplated going to another friend's place instead but they'd all probably by sleeping or somewhere at this time. Besides, he was already here so why walk further?

He knocked on the door lightly, hoping that Jun wouldn't hear him and he'd feel less guilty going to another person's place. A few seconds of silence and Minghao was ready to sigh in relief when the door opened, revealing a wet-haired Junhui, shirt obviously thrown on in a hurry and a damp towel slung around his shoulders.

"Won- woah. Minghao?" Jun ushers the younger boy inside, ruffling his wet hair with the towel. "What happened? Where's Mingyu and Wonwoo?"

Minghao stands in the foyer for a few seconds looking around. He's been here before but knowing that Junhui lives here seemed to change the vibe of the place. He turns to the elder, who was still waiting for an answer expectantly. 

"Oh, um. They sexiled me. Wonwoo said something that pissed Mingyu off and Mingyu told me to stay here instead. Disgusting."

Junhui laughs, shaking his head, making some water droplets splatter on Minghao. "Sorry. Make yourself at home. I'm pretty sure you've been here before. I'll just dry up."

Minghao nods, unsurely heading over to sit at the couch. He felt frustrated, dammit. He felt frustrated and shy and unsure and he didn't even know why. All he knows is he hates this feeling. Junhui's just walking around normally while Minghao can't even keep his emotions in check. 

He's been alone with Junhui a lot of times already, he was alone with him at the back of the library earlier for fuck's sake! So why is this any different? Minghao pulls a pillow onto his lap and curls his fingers at the edges, gripping the pillow tighter and tighter. 

He turns on the tv to distract himself but he ends up tuning it out anyway. Minghao gnaws on his lower lip, his eyes trained on the flashing colors on the tv but his mind wandered elsewhere. For a moment, he wonders if Wonwoo and Junhui ever fucked on the couch. Then he wonders why he even cares. 

Junhui returns, asking Minghao if he preferred chicken, beef, pizza, or chinese food. Minghao answers chinese, barely registering the question as he turns back to his thoughts. 

The elder sits beside him, leaving him to his thoughts until the food arrives. Minghao still has that sickening feeling and he tries to push it away in favor of food.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Jun finally asks, as he takes out the boxes. "It's nothing. It's just about what Wonwoo-hyung said earlier." Minghao tries to brush him off. It doesn't work. "It's okay. You can tell me if you want to."

Minghao digs his nails into the carton box, mixing the rice absentmindedly. "He mentioned your past arrangement between the two of you. When you guys were freshmen." Jun stares at him blankly for while until it sinks in. "Ah. I see why Mingyu would get angry. Wonwoo told him about it when they started dating, you know, better sooner than later. Mingyu initially didn't take it quite well but, trust stuff and here they are."

Minghao presses his lips together before shoving in a spoonful of food into his mouth. "This tastes too foreign." He comments once he swallows it. "I miss homemade cooking. I regret declining my mom's offer to teach me how to cook."

Jun smiles, taking a spoonful as well. "I can cook for you sometime if you like. Unlike you, I let my mother teach me how to cook." Minghao hits him with a pillow for that comment. "Sure. I'd like that."

Minghao wonders how he could make Jun smile again, because it looked like the sickening feeling seemed to go away when the older boy smiled. He opts to finish his food instead, relaxing against the couch. 

Minghao doesn't do anything but Junhui smiles again. 

He's unsure why Junhui still keeps on smiling but at least the feeling's gone now and he feels comfortable around Junhui again. 

Minghao smiles too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bonus:  
> "I'm not sleeping on Wonwoo-hyung's bed. Who knows what freaky shit they did there."  
> "You sleep on my bed then. You're the guest, c'mon Hao."  
> "I'm perfectly fine on the couch. Jun-gē, it's perfectly fine."  
> "It's not 'perfectly fine.' You're not sleeping uncomfortably on the couch."  
> "You aren't either."  
> "Fine. Compromise. My bed is good enough for two people with space in between. Come on."  
> "...fine."
> 
> "Night, Hao."  
> "...Goodnight, Jun-gē."
> 
>  
> 
> pls leave kudos and comments for improving or if you liked it thanks :>  
> I was going to post it tomorrow or the day after tomorrow but it was "thanks" release today so... :>
> 
> also sorry if it seems a bit cliche :/


	3. good morning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Minghao was hugging him. 
> 
> (oh god, he looked so adorable)  
> \- Jun probably

Junhui wakes up the next morning to an uncomfortable crick in his back. Still sleepy, he turns his head to look at the time on his clock and groans. 6:43 am.

He still has a couple of hours before his 8 am shift at 20's so he can probably get some more slee- something tightens around his torso and the situation finally kicks in Junhui's mind. 

Minghao was hugging his torso. _Minghao is hugging him._ Okay. Okay. He vaguely remembers sleeping beside Minghao, each boy on either side of the bed. But people can move while they sleep right?

Now he couldn't possibly sleep some more. Usually, he'd roll out of bed, get ready for the day, and show up to 20's a bit early for his shift. But he couldn't find it in himself to push Minghao off him. 

Sighing, he reached over and swiped his phone from the beside table, texting Jisoo in case his voice woke up Minghao. 

**junhiii**  
> hyung ill be at work an hour late  
> so ill work an extra hour from my usual too

 **joshuji**  
>  why?  
> don't you have class during that time

 **junhiii**  
> nah my prof said its cancelled  
> pls stop using proper punctuation when ure texting me

 **joshuji**  
> why do I have the feeling you're just trying to get out of class?

 **junhiii**  
> ouch hyung  
> do you really think id rather go thru serving annoying customers than sleeping thru my lecture

 **joshuji**  
> fine.  
> 9 - 3 then?  
> you'll be in time for the morning rush.

 **junhiii**  
> meh ill live  
> thnx hyung ;>

Junhui sets an alarm, rests his hand on Minghao's soft locks, stroking it softly, and drifting back to sleep.

* * *

Minghao wakes up to the sound of an alarm ringing near him. He doesn't remember his phone having a ringtone like that nor does he recall setting an alarm at all but he isn't complaining as he remembers he has a class at 10.

He opens his eyes only to be met with baby blue soft fabric on the side of his face, a hand in his hair, and his arms around something- or someone that isn't definitely a pillow. Minghao curses inwardly as he realizes he moved and ended up cuddling Junhui. He removed his left arm but sadly, his right arm was trapped between the mattress and Junhui; as a result, it had gone numb. 

He gently pushes Junhui to the side trying to draw his arm out but he barely got his wrist out when Junhui fell back. Minghao was well-built, okay. He was fit and all that, but it was too early for this. 

"Jun-gē." He tapped the older's chest lightly with his free hand, shaking him a bit. "Hyung, wake up." He continues, a bit louder this time. Jun doesn't wake up though. "Hyung." He repeats louder, hitting harder. 

Minghao glances at Junhui's abdomen, wondering if it would work. 'Meh,' he decides. 'It's worth a shot.' He uses his left hand and grazes Junhui's side with his fingers lightly. Minghao continues tickling the boy as much as he could with one hand until Junhui's eyes flutter open, his hands going down to push Minghao's off.

"Stop! St-" Junhui gasps out, gripping Minghao's wrist to stop him. "I'm awake. I'm awake."Minghao pushes Jun to the side, finally freeing his other arm. "Yeah, good."

Junhui covers his eyes with his arm, chest heaving. "Sorry." Minghao murmurs apologetically. "Probably not the best way to wake up. But I have a class at 10 and I needed my arm to get ready. Do you think they're good?"

Junhui shrugs, finally having calmed down his breathing. "They're probably asleep now but I can't say the same for the smell in your apartment. I got sexiled like that once and when I came back here it reeked of sex and nasty shit. I wish you luck if you do decide to go there. But you can shower here and I'll lend you some clothes."

"Thanks." Minghao smiles gratefully. "My bag's here so I guess I can shower here." Junhui reciprocates the smile, getting off the bed and getting out some clothes from his cabinet. "Mind if I shower first though? I've got work at 9. Unless you've got an earlier schedule?"

Minghao shakes his head, getting off the bed as well. "I don't mind. My class starts at 10 anyway." The elder nods, getting his towel and clothes, heading towards the bathroom. "There's milk in the fridge and cereal in the cupboards. Go get some breakfast."

Minghao heads over to the kitchen and it takes him a while to locate the cereal and to choose one but he finally makes a bowl and opens the tv to keep him occupied. Now, unlike last night, it _does_ keep his attention. 

Just kidding. 

The show holds his attention for a few minutes or so, until his mind slowly drifts back to their position earlier. 

He wonders why Junhui wasn't bothered by Minghao hugging him. Maybe the older was simply used to it. How? Minghao catches himself before his thoughts wander any further. 'Like last night, Minghao.' He reprimands himself. "Why should you care?"

"Talking to yourself?" A familiar voice snaps him out of his thoughts. Junhui stands behind him, his hands on the back of the couch, leaning against it and his damp towel around his neck. "I'm done taking a shower. Just so you know. The clothes are already in the bathroom, and there's a spare towel hanging in there too."

Minghao doesn't reply, his face warm. He simply nods in thanks and goes into the bathroom. He strips off his clothes and steps into the shower, turning it on. 

He lets the water flow against his skin, his eyes fluttering close, trying to get rid of his thoughts. Minghao wonders if he'd smell like Junhui today, using his shampoo and soap and wearing his clothes. He wonders if Junhui's clothes would be a bit large on him (he was right). 

Minghao's confused as to why his thoughts have been consumed by Junhui lately. Junhui, Jun-hyung, Jun-gē.

He lets the shampoo soak in his multi-colored hair and wonders if what Jun would think if he grew it out a bit. Maybe dye it to a more neutral color. Then he curses inwardly as he realizes he's thinking about Junhui again. 

Minghao remembers that Jun has work at 9 am, so he quickens his shower, pushing away thoughts of the other boy.

* * *

Junhui finishes his cereal as soon as Minghao steps out of the shower, and he almost drops the empty bowl as soon as he sees Minghao.

His clothes hang a bit loosely on the other boy's frame, the shirt managing to make a bit of his collarbones peek out and his damp hair plastered against his forehead cutely. Minghao had already folded his sleeves up, thankful that Jun had chosen to lend him a pair of sweatpants instead.

Minghao shifts uncomfortably under the elder boy's gaze finally asking why. Junhui doesn't sober up properly though. "You look..." Cute. Really cute. Very cute. "..good." Minghao nods walking over and grabbing his bag, "Thanks hyung, but stop staring at me."

"Oh. Sorry."

Junhui continues watching the tv as Minghao fixes up his things. "Oh, hyung. What time does your shift end?" 

"Around 3 pm. Why?"

"Do you have anything after that?" 

"No.." Junhui replies, a teasing smirk starting to appear on his face. "You asking me out on a date?"

Minghao punches his arm, "No, you idiot. I've got dance at 4 and I was thinking if you might wanna go. Nevermind."

"No, no!" Junhui quickly backtracks, grinning at the idea of finally seeing Minghao dance after 2 weeks of knowing each other. Some might say that's a short time, but they've been spending a lot of time together so that makes up for it. "I'd like to!"

Minghao finally zips up his bag and faces Junhui. "You gotta dance too, okay? Are you even that good?" He tacks on teasingly.

Jun mock gasps, offended. "How dare you? I'll make you eat your words, Xu Minghao."

Minghao laughs, ruffling the older boy's hair. "Okay."

* * *

They left the apartment together, Jun immediately heading over to 20's, almost late for his shift and Minghao to campus, too early for his class.

 **jagihao**  
> gē i forgot something  
> my class ends at 11:30 so ill just pick you up from 20's by 3?

 **jagihui**  
> sure  
> if you dont have anything better to do you can hangout over here 

**jagihao**  
> ill think about it  
> i know where 20's is anyway

 **jagihui**  
> okay  
> gotta go morning rush is starting  
> ttyl

 **jagihao**  
> good luck

Minghao felt a bit lonely once he saw Jun didn't even get to read his last message. He's still got an hour to spare, he doesn't have any homework, and he's the only person in this lecture hall. Great.

Well, he could try and get some sleep but it isn't exactly a comfortable place to sleep in and his body's already awake, so Minghao couldn't sleep again if he tried.

He tries messaging Soonyoung, but the bastard doesn't reply, probably still asleep since he doesn't have any morning classes. Lucky. He doesn't even try to contact either Mingyu and Wonwoo or Jihoon, knowing that the former two are still sleeping after whatever shit they did last night and the latter is either composing (meaning he wouldn't want to be disturbed) or tired (meaning he's sleeping and he wouldn't even respond to Minghao).

Finally, he tries Seokmin, knowing that the boy is a morning person and it's worth a shot.

 **ming**  
> hi seokmin

A minute later, his phone chimes with a reply from Seokmin. He grins, knowing he could count on the boy.

 **minnie**  
> hi minghao  
> what do you need  
> whyre you texting me

 **ming**  
> ouch  
> why do you imply that i need anything from you 

**minnie**  
> because almost everytime that you initiate a conversation between the two of us you need something  
> mostly i start our conversations  
> do i need to be specific  
> march 4: hi seokmin. i wanna know if you could help me with the paper  
> april 15: hi minnie. i cant make it to class today can you take down notes for me

 **ming**  
> okay okay  
> im sorry geez  
> you make me sound worse than i actually am

 **minnie**  
> so what do you need

 **ming**  
> surprisingly nothing really  
> i just wanna talk to someone

 **minnie**  
> wow thats a shocker  
> why 

**ming**  
> im alone in the lecture hall and my class starts at 10  
> where are you anyway

 **minnie**  
> why the hell are you so early  
> im at 20's

 **ming**  
> i slept over at jun-hyungs  
> is he there

 **minnie**  
> ;)  
> yeah but its morning rush so hes busy  
> better luck next time

 **ming**  
> fuk off  
> yeah he told me  
> i was just curious

 **minnie**  
> dont you trust him

 **ming**  
> i do  
> i was just asking

 **minnie**  
> awww look at thughao being a soft caring boyfriend

 **ming**  
> shut up  
> dont call me that

 **minnie**  
> youre such a tsundere

 **ming**  
> ew dont include me in your boyfriends weeaboo shit

 **minnie**  
> shua hyung isnt a weeb

 **ming**  
> ok you completely overlooked the fact that i called him your boyfriend

 **minnie**  
> :(  
> soon  
> ill confess i promise

 **ming**  
> yeah when hell freezes over  
> but dont rush i dont want another gross couple

 **minnie**  
> youre 1/2 of a gross couple 

**ming**  
> me and jun-hyung arent gross  
> atleast we're not like mingyu & wonu-hyung or soonyoung-hyung & jihoon-hyung

 **minnie**  
> library says otherwise

 **ming**  
> we  
> didnt  
> do  
> anything

 **minnie**  
> sure jun  
> you were gross even when you were with us  
> being all sweet and couply  
> we could see hearts coming out of your eyes legit

 **ming**  
> i dont know what youre talking about  
> class is starting bye

 **minnie**  
> it hasnt been an hour yet  
> its 20 minutes to 10  
> you liar  
[read 9:43 am]

Minghao gets off kakaotalk and plays some music instead, letting the music flow max volume into his ears.

He wonders if Seokmin was just teasing him or if they really did act like a real couple. 'Junhui-hyung's an actor anyway,' Minghao thinks, 'so it makes sense.'

But Minghao doesn't know how to act.

* * *

"Glad that's finally over. " Junhui gasps, collapsing on the counter. "I really hate morning rushes."

Jisoo pushes him off to the side to wipe the counter. "Don't we all? Help clean up and I'll tell Hansol to make you food. Knowing you, you probably didn't have a proper breakfast."

Junhui frowns. "I'm not against free food but I had cerea-"

"I told you once, and I'll tell you again. Cereal isn't enough for a grown ass guy like you. For kids maybe, but not you. Besides, it's not that healthy." Jisoo interrupts him, throwing him a rag. "Go clean then eat proper food."

Junhui just shrugs, walks over to the nearest empty table, and starts cleaning it. "Honestly, you're such a... I don't know. Dad friend? Atleast I get free food."

The older boy laughs. "Oh wow, I hope I wasn't influenced by Seungcheol. He's my roommate and he's such a dad friend. Like wow."

"Your place must be always clean then." Jisoo laughs harder. "No, no. We may be like this but honestly we're still college kids that don't give a crap about tidiness when there's requirements to chase on a daily basis." Junhui frowns, trying to imagine Jisoo anything but tidy. 

"But we're still tidy and organized to an extent, don't worry. But he's honestly such an old guy at heart that people at least two years younger than him, he calls kids. It pisses them off but they get used to it. Eventually. You're off the kid label radar, don't worry."

Junhui places a tray full of empty coffee cups on the counter. "I'm not even going to ask what the hell a kid label radar is."

"Good idea. I'll tell Hansol to start on your food." Jisoo takes the tray and heads off to the kitchen. Jun finishes wiping the rest of the tables and mopping the floor while he waits for Hansol to finish. 

"Here." Hansol places the plate on a table. "Thanks by the way. I get food too since I 'made too much.'" He winks at Jun and walks back to the kitchen.

Junhui leans back on the chair, savoring Hansol's food. The boy really was an amazing cook but what annoys them sometimes is his tendency to experiment new dishes and make them his lab rats. Sometimes it was amazing as hell, but most of the time... let's just say Junhui and Jisoo are now traumatized.

He scrolls through his feed, letting Jisoo handle the small number of customers that filtered through their door at this time. Jun realizes he never asked for Minghao's sns name and decides to search for him via Mingyu's profile.

He stumbles upon an account named **eisa_the8** who turns out to be Minghao. He didn't know what he expected from the other boy, maybe landscape pictures and random shots here and there since Minghao liked fiddling with his phone's camera a lot. 

Surprisingly, the boy posted a lot of selcas and some short videos of him dancing or other members of his unit. He did post a small number of aesthetic photos with his Kermit the frog plushie though. 

But holy shit, Jun did not expect this. Minghao didn't just post selcas. He posted bomb-ass selcas with really nice outfits and his makeup, Jun couldn't breathe. He knew that the younger boy was pretty with his dainty boyish features but it was just even more amplified with the makeup. 

(Jun dies when he sees Minghao in a turtleneck and camo jacket paired with an earring, his lips painted pink and his hair dyed light purple, his expression unreadable. He dies as well when he sees this picture of Minghao barefaced, wearing a santa suit and a red nose, his hair slicked back and looking so unbelievably cute.) 

Although Jun admits, Minghao was still as stunning with makeup as he is without (and he thinks that's objectively unfair, despite him being naturally good-looking himself). 

He clicks on a short dance clip and he immediately regrets it. He should _not_ have watched that after seeing all those pictures. 

Jun could barely see Minghao's face in the video but he could say that Minghao looked absolutely beautiful. 

Jun didn't expect anything less but he didn't expect this level of perfection. Minghao's dance was fluid and it hit a lot of sharp moves and it was beautiful. Every move he did was accentuated and he did everything cleanly, his body pliant to the music.

He clicked on a couple more, watching them, entranced. Jun's jaw dropped once he saw Minghao b-boying. "Holy shit." 

"Hey. What's gotten you so shook?" Minghao slides into the seat infront of him. Junhui yelps at the sound of the younger's voice. "Wha- what? Why're you here?"

Minghao pouts, _(he freaking pouts, Wen Junhui!)_ "Why? You don't want me here? Okay." He mimes getting out of his chair and getting his bag and Junhui's hand suddenly grabs his arm. "I- no. Um, didn't mean it that way."

Minghao laughs and sits back down. "Class finished. Mind if I hang out until your shift ends?" Jun nods slowly, finally calming down now that Minghao didn't manage to catch him 'stalking' his sns. "Yeah, no problem. Why will you wait for me?"

"Well, I'm not reminding you. I'm a bit offended you forgot though." Minghao slides Jun's plate closer to him and starts eating, leaving the other to wrack his brain on whatever he forgot. "Oh!" Jun exclaims suddenly excited, "You'll bring me to your dance studio!"

Minghao sighs, slightly disappointed. "I sorta hoped you forgot. And it isn't my studio per se." Jun just lets out his usual grin, but his heart was racing at the idea of seeing Minghao dance personally. "Don't forget, you have to dance too."

Jun nods, pulls his plate back and gets a huge spoonful then pushes it back towards the younger. "Here. You must be hungry. I'll go back to work," He says, eyeing the slowly growing number of customers coming in for lunch. "and you do your homework or something. If you wanna sleep some more, just tell me and I'll ask Joshua-hyung if you can sleep on the couch at the back."

Minghao nods gratefully and begins pulling out his laptop. Jun puts on his apron back on properly and makes his way behind the counter beside Jisoo. The older boy nudges him after he takes a customer's order and whispers, "Is that your rumored boyfriend? I heard it from Seokmin-ah." Of course. Jisoo continues, "First time I've seen him. Seems nice. Good choice."

Jun doesn't comeback with a joke like usual. Instead, takes the cup Jisoo hands him and smiles. 

"Yeah, that's Minghao."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im sorry for the wait ??  
> but wow its going slower than i expected wooo boi 
> 
> so seokshua makes its appearance and i am in heaven yes pls >.<
> 
> and thank you for your kudoses and comments ily all <3
> 
> please continue to comment and kudos :3
> 
> p.s. im not exactly a dancer so im not sure if my analytical dancing stuff??? is okay especially for the nxt chapter


	4. i adore u

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Jun and Minghao finally see each other dance; Jun has a breakdown and revelation.
> 
> Mild Hurt/Comfort

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so... im not a dancer so the description of them dancing is shit.  
> Lol jk dont hate on me i tried my best okay
> 
> Also THANKS (pun fully intended) for your amazing comments and kudoses it made my day!!!
> 
> heads up: lots of dialogue and texting

"Here we are." Minghao announces unenthusiastically, flipping the lights on. "Nothing special. You can go take a seat over there by the wall or you can stretch with me. I don't care either way. The kids will arrive soon."

Jun drops his bag by the spot where Minghao instructed but stands beside the boy to stretch as well. He's actually thankful for wearing sweatpants today in contrast to his usual denims and ripped jeans. Wow, talk about lucky timing.

Minghao plays a song on the sound system with some sort of EDM beat and starts stretching. Jun follows his movements, but he couldn't help but bob his head along to the beat. "What song is this, anyway? It's nice but I've never heard it before."

"Not surprised. Although you could probably listen to some songs like this through the uni's campus radio. As a dancer, you've probably heard the name Woozi before." Jun nods, bending down to reach his toes. "Yeah. A lot of dancers commision from him but it's quite expensive so they commision from Suga-hyung or S. Coups-hyung more."

Minghao snorts. "Well, this is a special composition by him. Free of charge since I've got blackmail on him. You know, him and Suga-hyung are sort of related. Cousins, maybe?" 

Jun stands up quickly. "Blackmail? You know him personally?" Minghao stands up as well, flashing a knowing smile. "You've met him before, actually." 

Jun frowns, sitting down and stretching his legs. "Who? I'm pretty sure I'd remember meeting a musical genius."

"You've met Hoshi-hyung already." Minghao continues, this time mirroring Jun's actions. "Tell me, who makes Hoshi-hyung's songs that he choreographs to?"

Jun racks his brain for answers as he switches to the next foot. "Woozi?"

The younger boy's grin grows wider. "Who's Hoshi-hyung's bestfriend?" Jun's mouth formed into an 'o' shape. "Power couple."

Minghao nods, stretching his arms some more. "I know. Hey, we've got like 10 more minutes before the class starts. And fine, since you were the one who asked first, I'll show you my dance first. I don't want the first thing you see me dancing is a freaking tutorial to kids."

Jun grins, leaning against the wall, and waits for Minghao to start. The younger plays another song, this time a bit more slow and sensual (he hears Soonyoung's voice singing and Jun immediately knows it's Woozi's composition). Jun doesn't show how fucking excited he is on the inside, wondering how much more amazing Minghao can be when he watches the younger dance personally.

"Just giving you a heads up," Minghao starts, making his way into the middle of the studio, letting the initial verses pass. "We haven't actually performed or practiced this song properly yet, since it's a demo. Soonyoung-hyung and Jihoon-hyung produced it together over a month ago and me and Chan are still trying to figure out why it sounds so goddamn sensual even to the choreography Soonyoung-hyung made. It's like they projected their sexual tension onto a song or something. Also," Minghao adds as it nears the pre-chorus. "Be ready for body-rolls and other stuff. I only chose this song because it was the next on the playlist." Jun chokes.

The chorus rolls around and Jun is pretty sure he's dead. Minghao moves to the song smoothly and perfectly, hitting the beat just right. Minghao's expression is filled with concentration, completely caught up in the song. 'Oh no,' Jun groans mentally, 'not the body-rolls, please.'

Minghao catches Junhui's gaze as he dives down to the floor to grind on it, and Jun's mouth goes dry. But all fanboying aside, Minghao was a really, really, great dancer. It was obvious that he had complete control over his body, making it move the way he wants it to (probably because of b-boying) despite the fast transitions. 

Every move he made carried the sort-of-swag, silent, yet confident vibe that was completely Minghao. It was a new side of Minghao that Jun was seeing for the first time, yet every moment of that side just screamed Minghao, the same way the playful, michievous side did, the savage, harsh side, and the cute, shy side did.

Jun was right. The video he watched on his SNS was good. But it definitely couldn't have a fair comparison to the real thing. Minghao was simply just too talented.

Minghao finishes the verse after the chorus and stops. "Was I any good?" Jun remains left speechless because of the performance and just stares at Minghao. "You know what? Nevermind. Just go dance."

Junhui shakes out of his stupor and shakes his head quickly. "No, no. You were amazing, breathtaking, I promise. That wasn't just good. That was fucking great." Minghao doesn't stop the smile this time and hits Jun playfully on the shoulder. "Your turn. Dance."

Jun suppresses a smirk and wiggles his eyebrows at Minghao. "Demanding." Minghao punches him again on the shoulder. "Just dance."

Jun walks over the computer and restarts the song they were listening to when they were stretching. "Is it okay if I freestyle?" Minghao simply shrugs carelessly. "Be my guest."

Jun nods and simply lets the song play for a few seconds, taking in the beat and tempo of the song before he restarts it again and stands in the middle of the dance studio, facing away from the mirror. 

He closes his eyes momentarily and inhales deeply. Once he opens his eyes again, his entire demeanor changes, making Minghao intake a sharp breath of air. His mouth wasn't smirking anymore and there was no trace of the usual playful teasing vibe in his eyes. He was completely composed, his expression focused yet there was the definite presence of sexy, the kind you'd see on performers on stage. And boy, was it a look on Junhui. 

He moves to the beat, each move precise and smooth, it made Minghao impossible to believe that it was simply freestyle and not an actual choreographed piece. It wasn't 100% perfect, missing a beat here and there, but despite not being well acquainted with the music, it was fucking amazing. And Jun looked fucking ethereal.

And- Holy shit. Minghao swore he felt his heart stop once Jun body-rolled to the beat, his body moving compliantly to how he wanted it. 

Jun was a fucking amazing, talented dancer whose moves left Minghao speechless and that's coming a lot from someone who dances with the famed Hoshi and Dino on a daily basis. 

Junhui ends his performance by throwing his arms away from his chest, his head tilted upwards. Minghao was completely frozen. Someone starts clapping from the doorway and Minghao whirls around to see Chan and Soonyoung there, grinning.

"I'm so glad I got to see you dance again." Soonyoung says, approaching Jun. "You've improved a lot since the time I first saw you dance even though you were fucking good then, damn."

Chan grins and stands behind Soonyoung. "You're really, really talented at dancing, sunbaenim! Ah, I'm Lee Chan, I'm in the same dance unit as Minghao-hyung and Soonyoung-hyung. Did Woozi-hyung compose for you too?"

"No, that was freestyle. I'm pretty sure I missed a lot of beats though." Jun replies sheepishly, his demeanor back to the usual. "I'm Wen Junhui, nice to meet you, Lee Chan-ssi."

Soonyoung perks up at the word 'freestyle,' and throws his arm around Jun. "Well then, all three of us have seen how talented you are so... how about joining our unit?"

"What? I'm not refusing but, um," Jun flushes, stumbling over his words a bit. "Wouldn't I be like, intruding or something? Besides what about the other members?"

"What other members, hyung? There's only the three of us." Chan pipes in, beaming. "Soonyoung-hyung's standards are a bit too high for some people. That's why there's only three of us." Minghao finally speaks, turning off the music. "So you're pretty special."

"Oh... but is it really okay?" Both Soonyoung and Chan nod, while Minghao doesn't even look at him. "Well, okay."

Soonyoung jumps Jun into a bear hug while Chan just watches, laughing happy to have another member. Minghao, however was still conflicted about what he felt during Jun's dance. After all, it was normal to admire a fellow dancer like that, right?

Just then, a young girl peeps in her head to look inside. "Um, oppas?" Soonyoung gets off Jun quickly and walks over to the girl. "Hi, Momo! Ready to dance?"

* * *

"They're really cute." Jun comments as they clean up after class. "Yup. They are." Minghao answers back, as he helps Junhui. 

A tall, lanky kid (Sanha, Jun remembers) taps him on the back. "Jun-hyung. Are you going to be a teacher here too? 'Cuz me and Jeongin really like you!" Jun grins and squats down to the younger boy's eye level. "Um, I'm sorry but I don't think I can be a regular teacher here because of my classes and my work," Sanha's smile drops and Jun sees that Jeongin slightly droops down as well. "But I'll try to drop by as many times as I can, okay?" Just as quickly as it disappeared, the two boys' happiness came back. "Okay! Bye Jun-hyung!"

"Ooh, never pegged you to be the kid type." Minghao teases. "First day, and you've got two kids after you already. You'd probably make a good dad."

Jun shakes his head as he goes to pick up his bag. "I'm good at taking care of them and they're cute, sure. But no way can I be with one all day. You coming back to your place?"

"Yeah. I hope so." Minghao says, shouldering his own bag. "Our prof gave us a paper today and I'd rather finish it sooner than cram later. I'm going to murder them if I so much see anything disgusting on my stuff. You?"

"I'm going by 20's first. I forgot some things over there so I'll drop by to get it. Be careful back home, okay?" Jun waves as they part ways in front of the dance studio. "Yeah, okay. You too."

Minghao couldn't explain the nagging feeling at the back of his mind and the barely understandable sentence ready to slip out of his mouth when Junhui mentioned the word 'home.'  

_It's right here._

He shakes it off instead like with every unexplainable feeling he gets and heads to the bus stop going home.

* * *

**jagihui**  
> did you get back okay

 **jagihao**  
> yeah dw  
> you ?

 **jagihui**  
> yeah

 **jagihao**  
> you okay?

 **jagihui**  
> yeah

 **jagihao**  
> probably not any of my business but  
> you dont seem like it

 **jagihui**  
> just stressed by school  
> im fine minghao

Minghao frowns at Junhui's reply. It wasn't like they were really dating anyway, but the sense of responsibility and concern was there as his friend. 

**jagihao**  
> not hao?

 **jagihui**  
> go to sleep  
> its late

 **jagihao**  
> gē its barely 10 pm  
> its fine to talk okay?

 **jagihui**  
> sorry but im not in the mood minghao

 **jagihao**  
> gē  
> i dont like you being this way  
> gē i dont like being intrusive but its not fair for you to be concerned abt me and i cant do the same  
[read 9:54 pm]

There's definitely something off. Minghao knows this is probably something more than just school requirements, seeing as how he has seen Jun cope with cramming papers and projects, dealing it with procrastinating and gathering inspiration from people he's around with rather than pushing them away. 

He slides his swivel chair towards the door and closes it before sliding towards the window and dialing Junhui's number, hoping that the other would pick up the phone. After his fifth consecutive try, Junhui finally answered the phone, his voice sounding a bit weary with a tinge of annoyance. 

"What do you want?" The older boy lets out, albeit obviously keeping his tone in check. He speaks in Mandarin rather than Korean, adding more edge to his tight words. "I told you I'm fine and that I'm not in the mood for it, Minghao."

Minghao shrinks a bit at the unfamiliar tone in Junhui's voice directed at him. "I just want you to be okay." Jun sighs, "I thought you didn't like being intrusive. What are you being like right now? Leave me alone, okay. Stop being so nosey." 

Minghao falls silent. Then after a beat, "I'm sorry." He whispers the apology, his voice very soft and barely audible,  but on the other line, Jun is jolted back to his senses, hearing the shaken tone in the younger's voice. "Hao..."

"I just wanted to help." Minghao's voice spoke again in the same tone, same volume. Junhui suddenly regrets taking his frustration out on Minghao, apparently resulting in the other boy feeling small. "Goodnight."

"Hao, no. Look, I'm so-" 

Dial tone.

Junhui frantically dials Minghao back, sighing gratefully when the other answers the call. 

"What? I'm leaving you alone." Minghao answers, his voice steadier now. "I'm sorry. I'm just so frustrated and stressed and you kept on asking and yeah, I'm sorry." Jun inhales, hoping that Minghao would accept his apology. 

"I just don't want you pushing me away. I get that we're not really dating, so I don't have to have that obligation. But we are friends, and I feel like that's enough for me to be concerned about you." Minghao explains. "I'm sorry for pushing you to talk. But I couldn't possibly rest leaving you like that."

Jun stayed quiet for a few moments, his breathing the only indication that he was still there. Minghao remained quiet as well, basking in the silence of his room and the static breaths of Junhui through his phone. 

"It was just pressure, I guess." Junhui starts again after a somewhat long period of silence. Minghao lets him speak. "You know, pressure from people who actually know me and have expectations from what they've seen and people who don't know me and have expectations from rumours."

"I know I'm popular and I don't hate it. But it's tiring, you know? Trying to fulfill every expectation everyone has of you just because you don't want to see their disappointed faces when they find out you aren't as perfect as they make you out to be. I'm a bit too selfless at times and I fucking hate myself for that."

Minghao remains quiet, but Junhui is certain that the younger is listening. He doesn't even know why he's pouring his heart out to Minghao, but he just does and it feels so right. 

Jun's barely known this guy for a whole month but they've probably seen each other's sides too quickly and too early than they probably should.

"I just can't say no. I can't deny shit and I can't deny people. A lot of people message me on sns daily but they barely even know the real me, just the perfect image of me. I do have a small number of friends that I can really trust, but in the long run? I feel so lonely, Hao."

Junhui's voice cracks and he barely conceals it with a hastily muttered curse under his breath. Minghao's heart clenches in the pain of his gē but he feels so goddamn helpless that he can't do anything to even comfort Jun properly, because what words could you even say in this situation?

Minghao's way of comforting is through his presence; by showing the other person that he's just there for him by staying by him, by subtle touches and the usual back rubs. 

He tries fishing for something to say but everything he thinks of are the staple statements like, "its going to be alright" but it obviously isn't. Minghao hates those staple statements because they've been too overused to even actually mean something anymore and Junhui doesn't deserve those.

Before his brain could actually decide on what to do, his mouth and body acted first.

"Jun-gē. Wait for me." 

Without ending the call, Minghao found himself slipping on his shoes, and sprinting all the way to Jun and Wonwoo's place, which thankfully was quite near to theirs. He knocked on their door, three quick, slightly frantic knocks.

Fortunately, Jun is the one who opens the door, eyes widening at the sight of Minghao in front of him. Minghao lets himself in, and directs Junhui back to his room. Once Junhui shuts the door behind him, Minghao immediately takes Junhui into an embrace, whispering against the elder's hair:

"I'm here now."

Those three words and Junhui stills. And after a few seconds, Minghao feels Junhui start to tremble in his arms, gripping at the sides of his shirt, and pressing his face against Minghao's shoulder. 

"Everything was going so well," Junhui chokes out, his voice raspy and low. "I was happy, okay? Then they called and I know they didn't mean anything but good intentions but I was so tired and they kept asking me how and when was I going to audition for an entertainment company, what was I currently doing, and they support me, Hao. They really do. It's just..."

Minghao is still silent, his fingers rubbing imaginary circles on the other boy's back. Minghao doesn't try to shush him and tell him to just cry and let it out, no. He listens.

"If you had met me a year ago, or maybe even a few months earlier and just watched me; I'm pretty sure you'd notice that I was done. Wonwoo, Mingyu, Jisoo-hyung, and even Jeonghan-hyung noticed. They tried to make me stop my attitude. Jisoo-hyung was actually starting to get annoyed. I treated everything like it was nothing and my life like a routine. Rinse, repeat, rinse, repeat."

Jun then chuckles lowly, but humourless. "Just think about it, I used to _want_ to be popular. Being a foreign student with dreams of being an actor or a professional dancer, you've gotta make your name well known, right? I did get what I wanted but too much. It was exhilarating at first, people coming up to me and just generally complimenting me, wow. Then it got scary once there were rumours involved. I thought I'd lose my popularity once I couldn't fill their expectations. So I did what they wanted. I didn't play with people's hearts though. I got their numbers, yes, gave them a chance but just wasn't for me."

Minghao finally spoke again, "Then why'd you stick with me? Why are you saying this to me?"

"Because I know that when you first met me, you didn't have any expectations at all. You approached me with no hesitation, and just straight up asked me to be your fake boyfriend. Not real. At that time, I actually forgot that people would just walk up to me and confess, so I was surprised then. You didn't even confess." Junhui laughs again, but this time, it was real. Minghao notices that he isn't crying anymore, only leaning against his shoulder.

"When I told you my name and my course, you didn't even react and I was so damn happy. I'm sticking with you because you don't exactly ask anything of me. I'm saying this to you because why not? I don't know if this is reciprocated or not, but I trust you, Hao."

Minghao stops rubbing his hands on Junhui's back and just straight up hugs him.

"Yeah, I trust you too."

* * *

Later that night, when Minghao announced that he was too lazy to go back to his place and that he'll just go back in the morning; and is now beside Junhui on the bed again, sleeping, leaving the latter alone with his thoughts.

Junhui realizes something. It wasn't one of those slow revelations with a crisis, no. This one comes crashing down on him and well, instead of fighting it, he just accepts it.

Might as well make the most of the situation.

Junhui realizes that Minghao's always been there for him, whether it be his breakdowns, stressed nights, michievous antics, or honestly anything he does. 

He realizes that Minghao is unfairly good-looking with his long, slender neck, his slim face and his eyes and his cute, cute nose, with those pointy ears of his his and slender frame. 

He remembers Minghao's dance and how fucking great it was and how it made him feel. How beautiful Minghao looks moving around in time with the music, his body moving with passion.

Jun remembers Minghao's fluent, smooth mandarin in constrast with his steady, somewhat cracked korean and he decides he likes the younger's voice in any language.

Jun thinks about his smooth, firm skin, and how fit Minghao is and thinks he's perfect that way. He also thinks about his punches and the scars on his arms and knees from his childhood and he still thinks he's perfect that way.

He realizes that Minghao is beautiful.

Later that night, Jun is left alone with his thoughts and that's when he realizes that he adores Minghao. 

_I adore you._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also i didnt mean to add angst you know  
> \+ if anyone got the SEVENTEEN's Still Lonely lyrical reference in Junhui's breakdown i love you  
> \+ i didnt mean to add adore u too lol  
> \+ minghao danced to who pls watch that sinful af choreo pls and thank you
> 
> JUNHUI'S AWARE OF HIS FEELINGS NOW WOOHOO !!!!
> 
> \+ ill probably update every week so yeah
> 
> Pls continue to comment abd kudos i love you all
> 
> I love stray kids and astro so yes bby maknaes <3
> 
>  
> 
> OKAY BUT HOLY SHIT THIR GAON STAGE THO BITCH THEY PERFORMED MY I, CRAZY IN LOVE, DONT WANNA CRY & THANKS ALL OF WHCH IM IN LOVE WITH OKAY 
> 
> MY JUNHAO SHIPPING HEART IS SCREAMING LIKE IM DEAD AND THEY ALL LOOK SO FUCKING GOOD (bless their stylists thank you) 
> 
> AND THEY WON ALBUM OF THE YEAR (i think i havent watched the vid yet) BUT YAS BITCH TEEN,AGE IS A FREAKIN AMAZING ALBUM THEY DESRVE IT OKAY


	5. no fucking way

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jun lied, Heechul is a good hyung; and Soonhoon has a moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay i just love Jun&Heechul okay???
> 
> also theres lots of texting here and a self-indulgent SoonHoon filler at the end (if you dont ship you can skip)

Junhui was lying. He hasn't accepted it.

Nope. No fucking way. He cannot be in love with Minghao. Not right now. Not ever. He definitely cannot 'insert handling fucking feelings' into his life schedule because no.

He was definitely sleepy when he thought he was okay with that, obviously. Because if he was okay with that, _he wouldn't have been panicking right now._

This isn't how fake relationships work, as far as he knows. It was only supposed to last for sometime, fake break up, then remain friends. That's it. _He wasn't supposed catch feelings._

Now, Junhui is certain that he's fucked and now he can't possibly tell anyone without exposing their arrangement.

Jun's never been good at catching feelings. He never wants to, knowing that the same thing would just happen again and again and he'd never have a chance.

He'd never admit this out loud (because he'd probably lose Mingyu's trust), but he caught feelings for Wonwoo during their 2-week-long friends-with-benefits arrangement, but then soon after, Wonwoo met Mingyu and you can certainly see how that turned out. Luckily, as Wonwoo and Mingyu's relationship progressed, Jun's feelings degressed.

He had a crush on Jisoo the first couple months he met him, for crying out loud. But then Seokmin came around and all Jun could do was laugh.

Atleast Jeonghan's still single. Jun hopes so. (But Jun knows that his crush on Jeonghan is simply on his physical and vocal appearance and that that the latter was out of anyone's league.) 

Following the pattern, he'd probably wait for a week or so until Minghao approaches him about someone he met and well, that's that. 

Jun hates catching feeling because he knows that history would just repeat itself over and over again. Wow.

And after he poured his heart out to the younger last night. Life truly does hate him.

Now, Junhui's gotta suffer mini heart attacks everytime they do couply things or when Minghao's just being himself everyday. And suffer heartbreak again. What a wonderful fucking world indeed.

Minghao stirs in his sleep and faces Junhui, his nose scrunching up. Jun groans, throwing an arm over his eyes, and facing the ceiling.

_"When will the pain end?"_

Junnie, dearest, it has only begun.

* * *

Minghao knows something else is wrong. He thought everything would be a bit better because of last night, but apparently, he was wrong.

Junhui couldn't even look at him in the eyes, much less hold a complete conversation with Minghao. Which leaves a very confused and worried Minghao.

Junhui 'assured' him that it wasn't because he cried in front of the younger boy last night. But that didn't stop Junhui from flinching everytime Minghao held his arm or lessen their distance between each other as they were walking.

Yet, Junhui didn't seem like he was mad, though. He lacked the cold, angry vibe and instead was actually, obviously trying to keep Minghao at bay. 

"Gē." Minghao says, a bit sharply. He has had enough of Jun being all fidgety and shit around him. "If I've done something wrong, just say it. Stop trying to ignore me and stop flinching away and meet my eyes. I don't know what I did but I'm sorry, okay? Can you just... stop this? Please?"

Junhui nods. Well, it was barely a shake of the head but Minghao'd rather take that than anything else.  

He tries again. Minghao slowly inches closer to Junhui and the latter slows down and lets Minghao hold his wrist. Jun was still stiff, though. 

"Relax, gē. I won't bite." Minghao inhales through his teeth, shaking Jun's arm a bit to loosen him up. 

Junhui glances at him and Minghao catches his gaze just in time. "You finally looked at me." The tips of Jun's ears turns pink. "Thanks." 

Minghao counts that as an improvement.

* * *

'Good going, Wen Junhui.' He rants to himself inwardly as he shoves his hands into his pockets, his head down, and quietly following Minghao's footsteps, just one ahead of his. 'You made him sad and mad and this isn't how you treat someone you like.'

[ **bold** \- Jun's devil  
_italicized_ \- Jun's angel  
weird  & cartoonish yep]

His inner little devil chimed in, **'Well, Minghao isn't going like him back anyway. Why bother being nice?'**

Jun's little angel retorted back, _'That isn't a good reason to hurt a person's feelings. Besides, Junnie's not like that._

**'How would you know? You only focus on his good sides, you damned saint.'**

Jun's angel seemed offended by that. (Honestly, Jun's only doing this so he doesn't internally blame himself for what ever he might do, say, or think in the future.) _'Bitch. I know Junnie's vices and I help him get through it. You just add more fuel to the fire.'_

The devil laughs condesendingly. **'Ooh. The angel swears. Should I be scared now? I just show Jun reality so he doesn't get shocked by it's cruelty and the pain later on. Aren't I such a thoughtful bud?'**

The angel scoffs, ready to shoot out a retort when someone slips in an earbud into his left ear, playing iKon's Sinosijak. Jun almost jumps in surprise and sees Minghao walking beside him, the other earbud in his right ear. "You were too quiet I thought you'd walked away already." The younger one comments nonchalantly, the slight sadness masked by his deadpan tone. 

"Sorry." Jun murmurs, trying to calm down his heart. (It was because he was surprised by the sudden music, okay. He insists. Definitely not because Minghao was so goddamn close, shoulder brushing against the other's every step they take, hands so close they could intertwine their fingers.) "I like that album."

"Me too." Minghao replies, a bit happier because Jun starts speaking to him normally again. "Their vocals are amazing here and every track here is such a bop. That and Love Scenario and Beautiful's choreos are downright amazing."

"You a fan?" Junhui asks, his lips quirking up. "Ahh, Junhoe-oppa!" He mocks cheers, his voice going up a couple octaves, and his hands limply waving around. "Ah, oh right, not oppa- Hanbin-hyungie!" He continues in the same fake high-pitched voice. Minghao shoves him off the sidewalk. 

"I'm not sharing my music again." Minghao lies, trying to keep in a deadpan expression. "I'm just a casual listener. You might be a closet fan though, Jun-gē. Don't pin in on me." Junhui laughs, stepping alongside Minghao once more. "Aww, don't get mad, jagi. Although admittedly, they are hot as hell, c'mon."

Minghao snickers. "Your gay is showing, Jun-gē. Tone it down a notch, I can feel the rainbows emanating from you." Jun grimaces. "My gay is always showing, what the hell, Minghao? Also don't tell me you haven't found atleast one of them hot atleast once in your life."

"No promises." Minghao shoves the other earbud at Junhui again. "Now, please shut up and listen to the song before I change my mind." 

Jun grins and Minghao weakens. 'Can that smile just stop wrecking my life?' Minghao complains mentally. 'I'm going to kill this guy someday for being so goddamn attractive and no one's going to stop me.'

A few minutes without either of them talking, just sharing earphones and listening to music was actually pretty nice, Minghao muses. He can feel Junhui's presence actually there instead of earlier so it's much better company. He could live with these moments, just staying in momentary silence with Jun, music playing in the background.

"If you're ever going to change it, can you not change it to a girl group? I'm not exactly in the mood to dance iconic ass dances in the middle of the sidewalk. Although, they are queen and I wouldn't object to that." Jun pipes up. Minghao sighs dejectedly. Maybe he'd need to duct tape Jun's mouth.

"You try that and I'll shove you in front of a car."

* * *

He and Minghao had parted ways an hour ago, and his heart can finally beat steadily, thank goodness.

He still doesn't have a solution for whoever he could rant to about his problem. He was getting bored in the lecture anyway and as much as it pains him to do so, he could just ask notes from one of his 'adoring fans.' 

He scrolls through his contacts for the seventeenth time, wondering who to trust with his gigantic, problematic secret. He stumbles on a name he almost forgot considering. 

"Ahh..." Jun groans. "He isn't going to be happy if he knew that I forgot to consult him. Ah well, he won't know anyway." 

**chinese heechul**  
> hi heechul hyung

The reply takes a couple of minutes to arrive. But Junhui's absolutely confident that he's going to answer.

 **korean junhui**  
> my favorite dongsaeng!  
> how are you? :)

Called it.

 **chinese heechul**  
> doing good  
> are you busy?

 **korean junhui**  
> not really no :p  
> why?

 **chinese heechul**  
> need advice thats all

 **korean junhui**  
> im all ears  
> who is it though :3

 **chinese heechul**  
> why are you so sure it's a person

 **korean junhui**  
> why're you so defensive  
> lol  
> besides don't think that i  
don't know that you almost only consult me when you can't consult your friends  
> it hurts but okay :)

 **chinese heechul**  
> holy shit really  
> im sorry  
> just dont use that emoji

 **korean junhui**  
> :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)

 **chinese heechul**  
> s t o p

 **korean junhui**  
> :)  
> hahaha okay shoot

 **chinese heechul**  
> well fine its a person  
> its a he  
> and im absolutely fucked

 **korean junhui**  
> you bottomed?? :o  
> the day finally came  
> wen junhui wasnt a dick

 **chinese heechul**  
> what the fuck hyung  
> not that sense of fucked  
> no  
> i havent slept with him

 **korean junhui**  
> yet

 **chinese heechul**  
> this was a mistake bye  
> blocked

 **korean junhui**  
> no TT sorry  
> continue i'll stop

 **chinese heechul**  
> okay  
> we are dating  
> sort of

 **korean junhui**  
> well what the hell  
> you already have him  
> so what's happening?  
> relationship problems?

 **chinese heechul**  
> no  
> im not exactly his boyfriend  
> we're like fake boyfriends

 **korean junhui**  
> :o  
> what are you?  
> in a drama?  
> #actorwenjunhui ftw  
> oh wait  
> holy shit  
> you caught feelings didn't you? you dumb boy

 **chinese heechul**  
> yeah  
> i am a dumb boy

 **korean junhui**  
> details

Jun inhales deeply. Now he's sure Heechul-hyung is invested and actually ready to listen. He might seem like a pain but honestly, Jun couldn't have asked for a better hyung.

 **chinese heechul**  
> he approached me first  
> saying he lied abt having a boyfriend so that he could get his roommate and his roommate's boyfriend off his case  
> and so he needed a boyfriend  
> im fucking selfless and bored so yeah i said yes  
> apparently remember wonwoo and mingyu

 **korean junhui**  
> yeah your fwb guy and his boyfriend

 **chinese heechul**  
> stop calling him that  
> hes just my roommate or friend now  
> apparently those two were the ones that he was hiding from so it kinda spread around our friend group and thats why i couldnt tell them anything  
> sorry hyung

 **korean junhui**  
> its okay :)  
> what's his name?

 **chinese heechul**  
> Xu Minghao  
> hes chinese too and a year younger than me  
> hes an amazing dancer holy shit  
> and hes adorable like what the fuck  
> hes got this cute ass pair of eyes and his nose hyung and his pointy ears  
> hes pretty fucking savage and sassy 

**korean junhui**  
> whoa  
> whipped  
> you're fucking whipped

 **chinese heechul**  
> his korean is so cute and his mandarin is so fucking beautiful  
> hes like a best friend to me hyung but with romantic feelings damn it  
> oh  
> im not even going to deny that ?  
> because i am so fucking head over heels for him but i cant hyung

 **korean junhui**  
> no jun  
> don't deny yourself of happiness just because of a few repeated mistakes in the past  
> maybe they just weren't for you so fate took them away before you could even fall further  
> i know you junhui  
> when you fall, you fall hard

 **chinese heechul**  
> exactly  
> and it hurts hyung  
> when you fall and theres no one there to catch you so you end up hurting all over  
> ill just ready myself for the impending doom

 **korean junhui**  
> jun  
> just don't distance yourself from him too much  
> with or without problems, he's still your fake boyfriend and will still have a large chance of getting hurt if you neglect him

 **chinese heechul**  
> how  
> i get fucking giddy like a schoolgirl with a crush as long as im with him  
> theres an extent as to how my acting skills can take okay

 **korean junhui**  
> you'll figure something out  
> i believe in you bud

 **chinese heechul**  
> hyungggg  
> im so fucked TT

 **korean junhui**  
> send me a pic  
> i wanna see what's got you so fucking whipped

 **chinese heechul**  
> pedo lol jk  
> heres a selfie he took on my phone last week  
> _wenjunmoon96 sent a photo._

 **korean junhui**  
> i'll just ignore your '  
"pedo lol jk"comment brat  
> holy shit his hair is so cool  
> how the fuck can he rock that hair color  
> but honestly though the elf-like ears are pretty cool  
> he is cute like you said  
> his eyes though niceee  
> he looks  s o f t

 **chinese heechul**  
> hey  
> stop fanboying over minghao  
> he may be my crush but hes also my bestfriend  
> its a bit weird seeing someone fanboy over my bestfriend

 **korean junhui**  
> "bestfriend"  
> sure jan  
> i bet you mispelled bestfriend as boyfriend more than a couple of times while writing that

 **chinese heechul**  
> s h ut  i t

 **korean junhui**  
> oh wow you aren't denying it  
> this is gold honestly

 **chinese heechul**  
> dont you have work or something

 **korean junhui**  
> says the one probably in the middle of class or work  
> also you messaged me first  
> but good choice though  
> i approve  
> and i gtg  
> my coworkers are inviting me out for lunch  
> go focus in class

 **chinese heechul**  
> wow ditching me for food  
> but really though  
> thanks heechul-hyung  
> although it wasnt exactly concrete advice ...  
> thanks

 **korean junhui**  
> :)

Junhui lets the emoji slide, gets off Kakaotalk and waits for the last seventeen minutes of class to pass by.

* * *

* * *

Jihoon peeks inside the dance practice room where Chan usually practiced, not expecting anyone to be there. 

"Soonyoung? Don't you have class?" He asked, walking towards a panting Soonyoung, hands on his knees. "It was canceled. Why're you here Jihoonie?" 

Jihoon barely flinches at the nickname knowing Soonyoung wouldn't stop no matter what and just succumbing to his fate a long time ago. 

"I lent Chan a usb and he told me to get it from here. Honestly, the nerve of that kid." Jihoon complains, turning towards the lockers and opening Chan's. "Are you practicing or choreographing?"

"Choreographing. I'd need to change the formation of most of our dance line-ups. Jun joined so I need to shift most of it from a three-person formation to a four-person one. It's not that tiring but there's quite the number of dances so..." Soonyoung trails off, chuckling weakly. "Honestly, I feel like Jun might feel guilty if he knew I needed to change most of the dances for him. He's worth it anyway but I'm not risking doing it with Minghao and Chan knowing they might let it slip to Jun."

Jihoon finally finds the usb and slips it inside his backpack. "I was supposed to go to the studio afterwards but I still got a couple hours to spare before my actual schedule. Want me to help? You know, instead of me accidentally starting a new song and locking myself up in the studio?"

Soonyoung stands up properly and gets his water. "You sure? You still have that project you need to pass next week. I don't want you cramming it, Ji." Jihoon lays down his bag and shrugs off his jacket. "I finished it two days ago. Just a bit more polishing needed. If you want, so you won't feel guilty, I'll let you help."

To an outsider, this may seem like a normal occurence between two friends, exchanging favors by helping each other. But if you actually knew Jihoon and Soonyoung, they both preferred working alone claiming that it was okay for them to take suggestions but while they were actually doing it, it would be best for you to stay away. Because a stressed Jihoon and frustrated Soonyoung is not one you'd like to be around with.

Furthermore, Jihoon likes composing alone, no additional noise or annoying distractions to disturb the steady growing masterpiece in his head. And he doesn't like making people hear his compositions until they're actually concrete. 

Soonyoung on the other hand, is a horror to talk with when choreographing. He'll let you stick around and make suggestions but he'll probably be so far in his zone, he won't even acknowledge your suggestions, so it's more recommended to write it down or suggest it when he isn't actually choreographing.  
But it's Soonyoung and Jihoon, Hoshi and Woozi, and even though they prefer creating their stuff alone, they don't mind being with someone else, namely if that someone else is each other.

Soonyoung goes over to his locker and starts changing his sweat-soaked shirt. "Deal. Just let me change my shirt and we'll get started." Jihoon tries not to ogle at Soonyoung. Definitely not an easy task.

Jihoon instead tries to distract himself from flipping through Soonyoung's choreo notebook which was still as vague as ever. "I don't think even you could understand that." Soonyoung laughs breathily, suddenly a bit closer that Jihoon thought. 

"I honestly am so curious what goes through your head when you choreograph. Like how does that-" Jihoon gestures to the vague doodles and notes on the notebook. "-equate to the amazing choreographies you produce?" 

Soonyoung swats at his arm playfully, swaying side to side. "Stop it, you're making me blush." Jihoon closes his eyes, his patience at the edgr and his lips trying to force back a smile. "I'll really make your cheeks red and painful if you don't start soon." The taller boy's grin grows wider and becomes sneakier, stepping closer and closer to Jihoon, his hand gripping Jihoon's arm and holding the smaller boy in place. "How?"

Now, being Soonyoung's friend for years already, Jihoon knows his quirks inside and out. (Atleast he hopes so.) Therefore, he knew Soonyoung had this really flirty side, of which he was unfortunately the majority of the victims of his flirtiness. And after all the times Soonyoung did flirt with him, his cheeks never failed to turn pink and Jihoon absolutely hated that fact. "Wah, Jihoonie, seems like I was the one who made your cheeks red-"

Jihoon shoves away a laughing Soonyoung, fuming but not attempting to leave. "I'm going to kill you later." Jihoon responds to which Soonyoung only grins back. 

Soonyoung explains it to Jihoon, starts the music and they get to work. 

What Jihoon likes about their set-up is that even though the light banter and jokes are there, they're very efficient and they actually help each other, Jihoon being an actually good dancer and Soonyoung knowing about music composition, writes amazing lyrics, and helps him record demos since he can both rap and sing. 

Jihoon's been so far gone for Soonyoung that he doesn't even try anymore. It wasn't like when he first started, his heart beating obnoxiously fast, and him being like a giddy schoolgirl in love. But it wasn't as though he'd lost his feelings for Soonyoung, trust him, they are still there and are still strong.

But he's so far gone for Soonyoung that his feelings became a staple factor in his life, just like Soonyoung himself, and quite frankly, Jihoon likes it that way. 

He likes liking Soonyoung despite all the shit that happened and the fact that Soonyoung's probably already over him does bother him but it's not like he can do anything about it. (You could confess, his friends suggest. That's a stupid, horrible, idea, Jihoon replies.)

He watches Soonyoung go over the set of moves again and scribble something down in that vague notebook of his and he decided that yeah okay, he absolutely likes loving Kwon Soonyoung.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> not much minghao and junhao action srry bbys so I just had a whole chapter with Junnie freaking abt his newfound feelings
> 
> also i know im not that good at slow burn but i feel like im dragging this a bit slow??? sorryyyy  
> gimme your thoughts
> 
> thank you for your kudoses and commentd & please continue to do so!!! :>
> 
> although iKon's return is really bombass okay??? and girl groups ARE QUEEN


	6. hair colors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Minghao isn't a cotton candy fairy anymore and Hoshi's planning something big. + my i

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im sorry this took so long i changed phones so i had to adjust and stuff but here i am with more junhao content and holy shit 100+ kudoses I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!

Minghao waits outside Jun's classroom, three minutes before his class lets out. He runs his hand through his hair nervously, wondering if Jun would like it.

After all, he'd been meaning to change up his hair again, Jun was just some kind of added bonus. (Yeah, right.)

They didn't get to see each other again after Jun's classes finished yesterday and Minghao had the dance class, while Jun had to cover Hansol's shift since he got sick. So Minghao decided to take the time away and go to the hairdresser to finally change his hair color. He's been a cotton candy fairy (Mingyu's words) for too long.

He paces the hallway again, checkinghis phone. Minghao was starting to feel impatient. One more minute.

The bell finally rings and Minghao's throat constricts. Wait a minute. What if Jun doesn't like it? He tries walking away but gets caught up in the sea of students filtering out of the classrooms. Someone bumps into him and he falls to the floor in surprise to be met with a pair of familiar dark brown eyes and soft black hair.

"Haohao! What are you doing here..." Jun trails off, his eyes going to Minghao's newly dyed blond hair, the bangs parted to show off his forehead. "Holy shit."

Minghao pushes himself off the ground, slips on his cap, and grabs Junhui's wrist. "Let's get out of here first."

Once they were outside, Minghao keeps the cap on and doesn't meet Jun's gaze which he actually doesn't need to avoid seeing as how the elder's eyes are trained onto his head. Jun gingerly takes off the cap and runs his fingers through Minghao's hair. "You dyed it." Jun breathes out softly. 

"Yeah." He tries for a bland tone, but his voice shakes a little. "Does it look nice?" Jun nods, a soft smile appearing on his face. "It's absolutely unfair. Why do you look good in any hair color?" Minghao's ears redden but Junhui doesn't seem to notice, simply fixated on carding his hand through Minghao's locks. "And it's so soft and smooth. Abso-fucking-lutely unfair."

"Stop holding hands with my hair." Minghao snaps after a while, pushing back Jun's hand away and putting the cap back on. "I'm hungry. Let's go and find something to eat."

"Okay." Jun hums happily. He hesitates a bit before taking Minghao's hand in his. "I'll hold hands with you instead." Minghao doesn't complain and intertwines their fingers in response. 

"By the way," Minghao muses as they arrive at the mall near them. "Wonwoo-hyung showed me some of your old pictures back then. I think there were some from way back your highschool days."

Junhui pales a bit, tightening his grip on Minghao's hand. "Please don't laugh." He squeaks in embarrassment. "Well, you don't rock every hair color, for one. I'm so glad you bleached your hair during highschool because highschool was like, experimentation stage. Please don't bleach your hair ever again. Bleached blond Jun wasn't that much of a look." Minghao laughs. Jun groans, burying his face in Minghao's shoulder. "Stooop."

"Although purple Jun could work. That was a solid 8.5/10." Minghao commented, even making the 'ok' sign with his hands. (Minghao legit blushed when Wonwoo introduced him to purple Junhui, although he'd never admit to that. Wonwoo claims he blushed at every pic he showed of Jun, even bleached blond 'dead head' Jun and it was disgusting.) "Don't worry ge. You looked nice with every shade of brown you did, and I gotta admit, you did look good with long hair."

"You should see Jeonghan-hyung with long hair. Now _that_ looks good." Minghao pushes back the weird feeling in his gut and makes a mental note to check Jeonghan "the pretty pizza guy" with long hair. "But you know what's my favorite? Black-haired Jun-ge." He admits, brushing Jun's soft hair back. Jun stills and inhales deeply. "I mean it. You look really nice with black hair, ge."

"Thanks, jagiya."

Minghao presses his fingers to his wrist's pulse point hoping it would steady the frantic beating of his heart.

Junhui should probably stop with the terms of endearment. Problem is, Minghao doesn't seem to want to.

* * *

"I'm starving." Minghao complains for the seventeenth time, his cheek pressed against the table. Jun wordlessly feed him another breadstick to which Minghao gratefully eats. Actually, because of Jun feeding him breadstick, his hunger is a bit satiated now (but there's always room for pizza) but Jun has been on his phone for a while now, mumbling some things under his breath and Minghao needed attention.

C'mon it's only the two of them with free time and ge spends it on his phone? Aw hell no. Minghao isn't that mean to just grab Jun's phone out of his hands, I mean, he'd absolutely hate it if Jun did that to him.

"What are you so focused on anyway?" Minghao asks trying to sound curious but a slightly pissed off tone comes out as well. Jun's eyes leave his phone to stare at him, realizing just then that he'd been neglecting Minghao. 

"Sorry." Jun say, closing the screen and placing it face down on the table. "I'm planning to audition for a play. Auditions are two months away but you've gotta be prepared. And besides, there's probably going to be talent scouts there at the performance night itself. If I get the main role and do good, I might get chosen by an entertainment company." Minghao blinks up at Jun, momentarily forgetting that the elder was an acting major first before he was a dancing minor. 

"Oh yeah." Minghao says blankly. "I've never seen you act before." Jeonghan appears beside them, bringing their order on a tray. "Really? I though Jun would have shown you by now." The blond comments, setting the food down on the table. "You know, he starred in an actual chinese webdrama few years ago. It was amazing. Junhui was a freaking vampire."

Jun groans, hinlding his face behind his hands. "No, no, stop Jeonghan-hyung." Jeonghan giggles and ignore Jun. "You didn't hear it from me but..." He leans in closer to Minghao' ear and whispers: "...he was a child actor too." Minghao's eyes widen, not knowing what to say. "Shut up, hyung." Jun says dejectedly from behind his hands. "I know you're telling him that I'm a child actor but atleast I wasn't like Hansol."

Jeonghan laughs so hard he had to use the table as a support, trying to say something but failing. Minghao frowns confusedly. He'd seen Hansol quite a lot of times at 20's considering he was Jun's coworker but he seemed pretty harmless save for the weird random moments he had. 

Jeonghan lowers his laughter, still giggling a bit but he finally leaves. Not before pressing a napkin to Minghao's palm in secret though.

> Junnie's drama: Intouchable  
>  he looks very good here and his acting's great. it's not as cringy as he says dw.  
>  enjoy (^-*)/

Minghao looks across the table to Jun, who hasn't seemed to notice the note Jeonghan gave Minghao and so Minghao decides to pocket it instead.

He'd check it out later.

"So..." Minghao starts, getting a slice of pizza. "I won't ask, don't worry. Here, eat. Aahh..." Jun removes his hands from his face, opening his mouth a bit and takes a bite out of the slice Minghao was holding out to him. "What did Hansol do?" Minghao asked, taking a bite for himself. He notices Jun's shoulders losing the previous tenseness and he feels relieved. (He'd still watch the drama later.) 

"He was some kind of model or something when he was a child. Did one of those 'philosophical' promotions or something. It's hard to explain. But it's basically Hansol's dark past. Aah..." Jun pauses and opens his mouth a bit, Minghao complies easily feeding him another bite. "Real cringy. He said some real weird shit." 

Minghao finishes off the crust and picks up another slice, feeding Junhui first this time. Jun's arms were still folded on top of the table, leaning forward a bit so that Minghao wouldn't have to extend his arm too much. "Like what? Oh wait, you've got something here." Minghao reaches out with his free arm and wipes the side of Junhui's mouth with a napkin. 

They still don't realize it.

"Kidney function is a right, not a privilege." 

Minghao chokes. "What?" Junhui shrugs, getting a soda and helping Minghao drink through the straw. "You okay? Drink first. I don't know, that's what he said. Ask Hansol. Some of the other 20's employees and I are placing bets on whether Hansol's a stoner or not. Some regulars are joining the betting too. Wanna guess what Jisoo-hyung's bet is?"

"Seeing his good christian vibe, I'm guessing he bet on Hansol not doing drugs. It'd be scandalous. But since you asked me, I'm guessing that's too much of a safe answer. Okay, hit me." Jun snickers softly before hitting Minghao's shoulder lightly, earning a unimpressed deadpan look from the younger boy. 

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. But yeah, he bet on Hansol being a stoner and you know what's surprising? Is the fact that he actually specified his damn answer. He actually said that Hansol couldn't have been doing marijuana because he'd need to smoke for that but he's never smelled cigar smoke off Hansol before, besides, Hansol gets repulsed by cigarette warnings and shit. Then he goes on and says it couldn't have been something like cocaine because he'd never seen Hansol's pupils really blown up so he says that Hansol must be on some prescription drugs that make him light-headed and spacey or maybe Hansol's just that weird."

Minghao frowns, "How the hell does he know so much about drugs? He's a Literature Major isn't he?" Jun shrugs, grabbing Minghao's wrist and taking a bite out of the pizza. "Yeah. But Jisoo-hyung's actually very... weird. Like he's the type of guy to be able to fool people with his christian and boy-next-door vibe to thinking that he's the type you'd want to bring home to your parents. He's actually not like that. He's evil." 

Minghao nods in agreement. "Yeah, I saw him one day, he was dealing with a rude customer that was really impatient so instead of actually making the long ass, pretentious order that the guy actually wanted, Jisoo-hyung filled a cup just full of straight, steaming, bitter espresso and when he went to give the cup to the customer, he just gave him a dazzling smile and said, 'Enjoy your drink and I hope never to see you here again.'" Jun gaped in shock, "Really? Damn."

Minghao nods, "Yeah, I know. So, the guy gets even more angrier and grabs the cup out of Jisoo-hyung's grip and storms out the café, not knowing what the drink actually is. So I see him take a sip of it and he recoils in shock because his tongue got burned and that was some really bitter stuff. To add insult to injury, it spilled down his white shirt and Jisoo-hyung was just there calmly smiling. And that's the day I became afraid of Jisoo-hyung."

Jun pats his should sympathetically, taking a sip of soda. "I'm so glad your eyes are open to the truth. Seokmin needs to wake up because he needs to see that Jisoo-hyung ain't no saint." Minghao nods along with him. 

"I don't have anymore classes today. Wanna go watch a movie or something? Unless you've got the dance studio?" Minghao shakes his head. "No, I don't. But Soonyoung-hyung wants to meet up for something dance-related. You gotta go too since you're part of our unit now. Speaking of which..." Minghao whips his phone out and types a few things and less than a minute later, Jun's phone chimes with a new notification.

_**bEURORA HURRICANE** _

> **xuminghao_o** adds **wenjunmoon** to **bEURORAHURRICANE**

 **rel8able**  
> here's jun ge

 **dino rawr**  
> hi hyung!!!

 **wenjunmoon**  
> hi chan?

> **kwonhoshi** changed **wenjunmoon's** nickname to **hot dancer from 5a**

 **naega hosh**  
> jun! welcome!  
> ive been nagging minghao to add you but he always refuses to! :(  
> thats your nickname until i find something else suitable :)

 **dino rawr**  
> speaking of which  
> hoshi hyung pls change my name  
> i sound like a 5 yr old  
> bye thnx

 **naega hosh**  
> but its cute :( 

**rel8able**  
> its really not  
> make us all admins hoshi hyung  
> or else woozi hyungs gonna know some things

 **naega hosh**  
> :(((((((((((((  
> u wouldnt

 **rel8able**  
> i would and you know it

 **naega hosh**  
> bi t c h

 **rel8able**  
> hoshi hyung

> **kwonhoshi** set _admin_ to _all_

> **xuminghao_o** changed his nickname to **kermit dabs**

> **leechanssi** changed his nickname to **zero**

> **wenjunmoon** changed his nickname to **prince of china**

 **zero**  
> much appreciated  
> thnx minghao hyung

 **kermit dabs**  
> no prob thanks hoshi hyung

 **naega hosh**  
> :(((((((((  
> just go to the studio now  
> btw minghao ur nickname sucks

Jun laughs reaches over and grabs Minghao's phone out of the other's hands. "You're probably going to swear at him, Hao. But to be fair though, 'kermit dabs.' Really?" Minghao scowls in return, crossing his arms over his chest. "Don't judge, 'Prince of China.'" 

Jun simply shakes his head softly, ruffling Minghao's hair. "Why'd you wanna be a dabbing frog anyway?" 

Minghao doesn't answer.

 **prince of china**  
> we'll go there now thnx  
> see ya

* * *

"So," Soonyoung claps his hands dramatically, three unimpressed boys sitting on the floor behind him and a whiteboard behind him bearing the words, 'MISSION HOSHI DANCE UNIT: DOMINATE THE SHOWCASE.'

"The Pledis Dance Showcase-" 

"It's Pledis Art Showcase, hyung. Not everyone's going to be dancing." Minghao interrupts but Hoshi ignores him and waves it off. "-is this August which is three months away. Now that I have formed my ideal dance unit, we will dominate the showcase for sure. Obviously, we can't dominate something as big as Pledis with only one act."

Soonyoung pauses for a dramatic effect, only to be broken by Chan opening a pack of chips noisily. "Sorry, hyung. Go on, continue." Soonyoung still hasn't lost his disposition though. "I plan for us to perform atleast 4 acts. One dance from us all, I'm obviously going to perform 'Hurricane,' and the rest of you can go and dance what you want."

"Hyung, you've finally written 'Hurricane?' I've never thought you'd actually do it." Minghao says. "Yep, Jihoonie's helping me! I'm going to perform the best choreography ever!" Even though that probably sounded like a childish stretch, none of them actually doubted Soonyoug's skills, knowing the guy was basically a dance god.

"Well, I'm performing 'Zero.' That's obvious." Chan stated. "'Zero' is a song Chan composed when he left highschool, it's actually really good." Minghao explains to a blank Jun. "What about you two?"

"We'll perform together." Minghao answers before Jun could even think about it. "I don't want to perform alone." 

Soonyoung shrugs. "That's fair. I'm begging you to dance to an original song, please. I'll ask Jihoon to help you out. Although I think you'd have to write the lyrics on your own."

"No problem." Minghao replies easily. "Also, for our unit performance, I'll let you listen to the song tomorrow is 7 am okay? I know some of you have 9 am classes so..." The three other dancers stared at Soonyoung incredulously. "Soonyoung-hyung," Chan started off slowly. "Are you crazy? We all aren't morning people like you. 3:30? Is that okay for you, Jun-hyung? We've all got dance studio except for you so..."

Jun nods. "Yeah, my shift would be finished by then. Thanks, Chan." Chan stands up, brushing crumbs off his clothes. "I've got somewhere to go, and since all I've got to do is practice 'Zero,' I'll be going now. Bye hyungs!" Chan waved after he gets his stuff and leaves.

"Okay," Soonyoung says getting their bags for them and starts making them stand up. "I'll practice now. You go write lyrics or something and I'll tell Jihoon about your original song, okay? Okay." 

And before they knew it, Minghao and Jun were facing a shut door with their bags shoved to their hands. "...okay." Jun nods dumbly, still staring at the closed door.

Minghao glares at the door. "Fucking Hoshi." He faces Jun, his expression still a bit stormy. "Where do you usually practice?"

* * *

Jun flips the light on as the enter the practice room in the deeper part of the building. "Here we are. It's a bit smaller, but since I'm mostly the only one who uses it since the other students prefer to practice at the practice rooms near the entrance since it's bigger and easier to locate, it's a nice place." He explains. 

Minghao drops his bag on the floor and lies down, using it as a pillow. "It's nice." Jun smiles a bit, sitting down beside Minghao and pulling out a notebook and pen. "Wanna start writing lyrics?"

Minghao turns over so he's lying on his stomach and pulls out a pad of paper and a pen of his own. "Okay... How hard can it be?"

**One hour later...**

Minghao tears off the nth piece of paper off his pad, groaning in frustration and his papers filled with endless scribbles and frustrated doodles, multiple lyrics crossed out harriedly. Jun simply watches the younger boy in amusement, his papers also filled with multiple lyrics but still intact with notebook. Minghao's cleaning up later. 

"I hate this! They're all generic and cheesy and my grammar keeps fucking up! I'll just plagiarize a song, they'll be too immersed in our dance anyway to even realize it." Minghao complains, just scribbling random words on his paper. 

"How hard can it be?" Jun mocked Minghao's statement from earlier. Minghao glares at him. "Shut up." Jun simply raises his hands in surrender. "Why don't you try writing in chinese first then we'll just incorporate it into korean?"

Minghao bites his lower lip unsurely, before turning back to his pad paper and writing again. The formerly stiff korean letters were replaced by more fluent, smooth chinese characters. 

Jun hums a little before turning back to the silence he was enjoying before Minghao started complaining. About ten minutes later, Minghao's voice rang through the practice room again. Jun sighs. Well, it was nice while it lasted.

"It's still cheesy as fuck. I can't think of anything non-romantic to write since this is basically the easiest topic ever. I hate this. It makes me want to puke." Minghao groans, letting his head fall against his notebook. 

"Okay." Jun lets out, getting Minghao's pen and paper from him and urging the other boy to sit up against the wall. "Break time. Let's watch a movie to clear your mind and maybe bring inspiration." Jun pulls his laptop out of his bag and starts setting it up. "There's this new anime movie and it's become the highest rated anime on MyAnimeList so I guess it's really good."

Minghao glances at him uninterestedly, fiddling with his fingers. "Okay. This better actually be good." Jun sits beside Minghao, placing the laptop on their laps and the movie starts to play. 

**君のなわ**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so their hairstyles are actually for jun, boomboom era or dwc era bc black haired junnie is my favorite junhui <3  
> and Minghao's blond hair is ofc baksu eraaaa >.< i was trying to choose between baksu era or dwc era but baksu won over :3
> 
> also there are blond!jun moments where he absolutely looks so fucking good its unfair but most of the pic of his blond hair makes his hair look fucking dead so yeah im sorryyyy 
> 
> also i had to add my i in there at some point cmon guys its basically junhao shippers' anthem :3333
> 
> thank you for all your kudoses and comments :))))))


	7. squeak

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They finish the lyrics, start recording and Junhui discover some things adorable about Minghao.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah... okay so hahahahaha  
> this is more or less a filler chapter and um yeahhh  
> just gives you insight on more stuff lol
> 
> i actually dont know if i did well on writing this chapter so pls pls tell my your opinions

Minghao stares at the screen, breathless. Okay, that was an amazing movie. But... "What the hell was up with that ending?" Minghao exclaims. He isn't actually one for ambiguous endings and he just feels so incomplete right now. 

Jun nods, still processing in the movie. "Fucking cliffhanger." Minghao curses. "Yeah, yeah. But the part where they were at that crater-ish place and Taki just had to write "I love you" rather than his own fucking name." Jun replies, "Like, bro, you can be fucking romantic and shit after she _not_ dies, okay?"

Minghao leans his head against the wall, sliding to the side slowly until he's against Junhui's shoulder. "That was a really beautiful movie but honestly, what the fuck. I feel really incomplete right now." Jun breathes slowly, pulling the laptop closer to him and shutting it off. 

"You and me both." Junhui says, a bittersweet sting in his chest. He doesn't know whether if it's from the movie or from the sheer proximity of Minghao to him that he's suddenly aware of. He hopes it's the former. Taki and Mitsuha were a pretty bittersweet couple. 

He feels Minghao breathing softly beside him and after a while, his own breathing had matched up with Minghao's. "Jun-ge." Minghao whispers, a slight excitement and urgency in his voice. "Pass me the paper and pen. I've gotten inspiration."

Jun reaches over and passes said items. Minghao writes a few words down, not enough to be lyrics but enough to seem like an idea. "I think it would be really cool if we did a red string of fate thing, after all, that myth started in China. And if it's okay with Jihoon-hyung, we could have the song in Chinese as well."

He sits up straight to properly show Jun what he'd written down and the elder mourns slightly at the loss of contact. "But I'm not talking about the usual romantic red string of fate trope. I'm talking about something similar to what happened in Kimi No Nawa. Like the persona is aware that they have someone they're soulfully connected with but they couldn't pinpoint what is is. So I'm guessing like maybe... a fog or something? A barrier of sorts, maybe. Soulmates in different timelines. Yin and Yang. Past and Future."

Jun smiled at Minghao with a fond look on his face as the younger went on and on about his newfound creativity. "I've got an idea about what you're trying to say. Something like this, I guess?" Jun gets his own pen and scribbles down a couple of lines.

> I am your future.  
>  You are my past.  
>  One half of a whole.

"So if we talk in the terms of the movie, Taki is basically Mitsuha's future so... Taki is future." Minghao mutters as he writes that down. "Mitsuha is past. So what happened between the two of them significantly, besides switching bodies?" Jun continues. "I guess... Taki sort of saves Mitsuha and gives her another chance in life?" Minghao answers unsurely but still writes that down.

"Let's write something down like 'We'll meet someday' or something." Jun suggests. "Okay." Minghao writes that down. "Let's write some stuff about shadows and things depicting their hardships?" Jun nods. 

"What if the song is from either Mitsuha or Taki's perspective? From the future side of the bond or from the past side of the bond?" Minghao suggests and Jun readily agrees. "Yeah. We could do that. But from whose perspective?"

They stay that way for hours, just spewing out ideas, rewatching certain parts of the movie and drawing lyrics from it. It turns out it isn't that hard at all.

* * *

They send the lyrics over to Soonyoung after editing thoroughly, who promises to send it to Jihoon as soon as possible. 

Roughly half a week later, Jihoon sends them a demo and a note 'complaining' how they only sent the chinese lyrics therefore the demo had no lyrics and that they had to come down for recording as soon as possible.

"Sorry hyung." Minghao apologizes once they managed to snag a schedule with Jihoon. "Here's the korean version of the lyrics, but we're planning on singing it in chinese. The demo sounds amazing, by the way." Jihoon hums as he takes the paper from them. "You're not late. I'm impressed. Get ready, warm up, I'll just edit the lyrics a bit and distribute your lines. I hope you sing well."

Minghao nods and backs away from the studio. "He said to get ready and warm up. How's your singing?" He asks Jun. "I'm okay. It's okay." 

"I actually don't know who to believe but Seokmin has recorded with Jihoon before and he says Jihoon could be... terrifying. But Soonyoung-hyung says Jihoon's not bad. Or atleast his personality when he's producing has gone better. I personally think he's just biased." Minghao explains, drinking lukewarm water. Jun nods, busy stretching his mouth. Jihoon peeks out of the studio. "Jun, come up first. I wanna see your vocal skills."

Jun walks into the studio and faces the mic, putting on the headphones carefully. He's never actually done this before but he knows he's atleast decent enough for Jeonghan and Jisoo to practice with him. As backing vocals. But that's something and Jun just really hopes that Jihoon won't be disappointed. 

"Just sing anything. I just wanna see what you're made of." Jihoon instructs. Jun remembers this song that came out a couple years ago on their campus radio channel, mid his freshman year. It didn't seem like it was a from a professional company but it was nice. Wonwoo liked it a lot and kept on playing it over and over until the end of the freshman year that Jun eventually memorized the lyrics. 

"Okay. Chorus?" He clears his throat and starts humming out the initial tune, a light groovy tune, snapping his fingers to a beat. Woozi furrows his brows in vague familiarity.

As time goes by  
I’m feeling indifferent to everything  
I’m sick of meaningless hangouts and conversations  
It’s like living for other people’s expectations  
And all of it just piles up  
All the phone numbers I don’t call  
Just pile up, pile up  
It piles up when I don’t want it to 

This cursed popularity.   
Why won’t it leave me?  
But why am I getting lonelier  
The early morning chill makes me feel  
Even lonelier today  
I feel completely empty, as if I’m empty 

Jun sings the song medium pitch, but going low and hitting the high notes properly. Thank goodness for Wonwoo and his slight addiction to this song. Jun wouldn't admit it to Wonwoo because he always yelled at the other boy to shut the damn song up but Jun eventually liked the song also. It was something that perfectly reflected his problems and if he didn't know any better, he'd have thought that the song was written for him.

He finishes the last line, humming the tune of the second verse, bobbing his head slightly to the silent beat. He finally looks at the other two and both were staring back at him with mild surprise. 

"Jun?" Woozi finally speaks. "Where'd you hear that song? You're clear by the way. Might need a little more control but you're good to record." Jun smiles, bowing his head just slightly in thanks. "Freshman year. Campus radio channel. My roommate liked it a lot. It's a nice song."

"Oh. Okay. Minghao, your turn." As Jun takes off the headphones, he hears Minghao grumble something about already hearing him sing but grudgingly trudges into the studio anyway. 

Minghao positions himself infront of the mic and starts to sing. He's good. No, Jun won't pull any cliches and describe Minghao's voice like the singing of angels and shit. It wasn't perfect. His voice was a bit small and nasally and high-pitched. It had that slight accent of his and it was cute. It was fucking adorable. It matched Minghao perfectly and suddenly Jun couldn't remember any expectations he had before then. 

"Okay." Jihoon says after Minghao finishes. "Your voices are compatible enough to not make any drastic changes. I'll just fix this then I'll call you guys again to record. You can go eat lunch or something. It'll take me a while and bring me a venti iced Americano when you get back, thanks." They thank Jihoon, who was now immersed in matching the lyrics with the beat, and shuffle out the studio.

* * *

"You're a nice singer." Minghao comments offhandedly as they stand in line in the coffee shop near the recording studio. They'd just finished eating ramen at a nearby shop and were just getting Jihoon's iced Americano for him. 

"Thanks." Jun replies. "You're pretty good too." Minghao presses his lips together sheepishly. "Your singing voice is adorable." Jun adds and he mentally wonders why can't he just shut up. Minghao squeaks. Wait. _Minghao squeaked._

"Thanks. I don't like singing infront of others that much." The younger replies and Jun almost doesn't hear it, still in surprise from Minghao's small squeak. "Did you just squeak?" Jun quickly asks in one breath. Fortunately, Minghao is spared from answering when the cashier asks for their order. Jun repeats Jihoon's order and they pay for the drink. 

After they picked up the drink, Minghao starts walking faster towards the recording studio, avoiding Jun, his ears tinged pink. "Did you squeak ea-" 

"I don't know what you're talking about. Sorry, bye." Minghao brushes the question off and continues walking faster.

* * *

Jihoon was terrifying. Fuck Soonyoung and his biased opinions on his damn boyfriend. 

They spent nearly four and a half hours on Jun and Jun alone. And maybe the first hour was mostly Jun's fault but after he got the hang of it, he managed to sing accordingly to the demo but Jihoon still wasn't satisfied. He made Jun repeat lines over and over again, making him adjust the notes and just promptly shutting him down when he hears a barely visible flaw. It took Jun a total 78 takes overall to finish his half of the recording. 

Minghao's was half an hour less than Jun's time but it was still fucking hell. Jihoon still gave absolutely no fucks and just shut down Minghao whenever he deemed something was off. ("At least be a bit more considerate about it." Minghao mutters under his breath. "If I need to sing 'My I' one more time, I'm going to scream.) Jihoon reprimands him on his enunciation, his pitch, his breathing.

Both of them nearly sagged in relief once recording was finally done. "You guys have potential, honestly. You're just not consistent." Jihoon comments on them afterward. "You better thank Soonyoung for begging me to produce an original tune just for you guys. Alright, shoo now. I'll just let you guys know when its finished. Now leave me alone. Thanks for the coffee by the way."

Jun grins at the smaller boy on his way out, saluting him a bit. "Yeah, yeah. We'll thank your boyfriend." They close the door behind them as soon as Jihoon throws an eraser aimed for Junhui's face.

* * *

They part ways afterwards towards their respective apartments and Jun was surprised to see Mingyu in his kitchen when he arrived. (actually no, he wasn't surprised but he was pleased to catch them being decent.) 

"Hi. Wonwoo's just getting his laptop from his room. We're having a movie night." Mingyu says as Jun looks for something decent from their fridge. Jun frowns at the absence of cereal in their stash so he steals cup noodles from Wonwoo instead. He swipes a nacho from Mingyu and remembers to ask him something.

"When does Minghao squeak?"

Mingyu faces him, his eyes glittering with amusement. "He rarely squeaks, hyung. But I see from when he does, it's usually because he's caught offguard by a compliment he likes. Or something really surprising." Jun grins at the thought of him calling Minghao's voice adorable earlier and the younger's equally adorable squeak. 

"Thanks." Jun grins and was about to leave the kitchen when Mingyu asks him a question in return. "But you've been dating for quite sometime already so you must've known him longer that that. You've never heard him squeak before?" Jun hesitates before plastering a fake smile on his face. "I have. I've just... haven't caught on the pattern, I guess. Thanks again, Gyu."

He bows his head slightly and walks out of the kitchen quickly, Mingyu frowning after him, still questioning the older boy's answer.

* * *

Minghao was thankful that neither Mingyu nor Wonwoo was home so no one was going to judge him for what he was going to do. Nothing wrong or weird, of course. He was just going to check out Jun's chinese web drama. Nothing wrong about that. 

He locks his bedroom door, snuggled in his bed, his laptop ready, and the blanket thrown over his head. He taps the spacebar and Intouchable starts to play.

* * *

After nearly 2 hours and 40 minutes of bingewatching, Minghao finally finished the damn drama. He stares at the laptop screen, his feelings conflicted and all mixed up. Honestly, Minghao doesn't know what to think of.

Well, the cast was good-looking, okay and Jun, well, he looked nice as a vampire. ( _Really nice,_ a voice nagged at the back of his mind. Minghao wills them to shut up.) The acting was good, that definitely got points in that area.

But the plot. And the production. Oh god, Minghao wanted to cry. It wasn't completely terrible but it was bad. The flowery butler-like concept was not Minghao's type. And it wasn't as vampirical as he expected, so meh. And the production wasn't as nice as most dramas so that definitely hurt him.

And the plot was all over the place and it was just so generic and cliche and confusing and wow, Minghao could see why Jun wanted forget about it. And Jeonghan, it was a bit cringy like Jun said it was. 

But... Minghao finished it. And he was so fucking drained like what the fuck. (He vaguely remembers EXO Next Door and Dream Knight and wonders why he even watched the three fucking dramas. Oh right, Kim Fucking Mingyu forced him to. Except for Intouchable but Minghao completely blames Jeonghan.)

Oh well, at least he's now seen Jun act. At least he was really good. ( _Definitely not a complete waste of time,_ the voice says again. Minghao doesn't say otherwise.)

He shuts off his laptop and burrows further into his blankets to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> first of all, i know jihoon actually terrorizes Soonyoung but oh well 
> 
> second, i dont really know how recording works but i hope its okay
> 
> third, i actually havent completely watched intouchable so what ive written about here is from a review i saw while looking up about the drama 
> 
> 4th, lol i put still lonely here again cuz i love that damn song
> 
> i hope you guys enjoyed!
> 
> also pls continue to give more kudos and comments :333333


	8. xu minghao is gay and green-eyed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yes, Xu Minghao is very much gay for Wen Junhui. (Well, he was gay to begin with anyway.) Jun was a work of art Minghao liked to admire, in the younger's simple words. He'd accepted his feelings simply as long as it stayed inside his comfort boundaries, and so he just dealt with those said feelings like that for the past month and a half.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the long long wait okayy  
> and finally a minghao-centric pov chapter and this chapter will just focus on their dance practice so yeah and it's like a month or so after the events of the last chapter so yep

Minghao stares at the mirror, taking in his reflection. _'It's just another dance practice, Xu Minghao. You're going to end up being sweaty and gross anyway.'_ He pulls up the bomber jacket onto his shoulders for the nth time, twisting his body a bit to see how it looks with the outfit. 

Honestly, there isn't anything special with the outfit, just gray jogger pants with a sleeveless white graphic tee, half-tucked. Minghao pulls the bomber jacket down to his elbows again, momentarily wondering if he should just wear a sleeved shirt instead. 

Mingyu pokes his head in through Minghao's open doorway and knocks impatiently on his door. "Minghao, if you don't get out of your room in five minutes, I'll go to campus first and you'll end up walking." The taller boy threatens. "And honestly, why bother dressing up for Jun-hyung today? You'll just end up practicing like usual and honestly, he'll think you look good in anything you wear so help me, please get out of your room already."

Minghao blushes a bit at Mingyu's last statement but he couldn't help but wonder if Jun actually thinks that way. He frowns back at his reflection and wonders if he should just wear his vans instead of his stan smiths when Mingyu yells his name exasperatedly from the living room.

"Xu Minghao! I'm giving you exactly one minute or so help me, you are walking to campus!"

Minghao immediately ditches the bomber jacket for his usual red hoodie instead and grabs his backpack off his bed. "I'm here. I'm here."

Mingyu stares at him deadpan, giving his outfit a once over. "What the hell. The hoodie wasn't even in your initial choices and I'm pretty sure you haven't washed that since last week." Minghao looks down at his hoodie and briefly raises his arm to sniff at his sleeve. It doesn't smell bad, honestly. Actually, Minghao could still smell faint traces of the fabric conditioner from its last wash.

"You know what? I actually don't give a fuck anymore." Mingyu throws his hands up in the air in exasperation, and walks out the front door. Minghao looks at the mirror in the hallway one last time, brushing his hands through his hair, wondering if it was too messy. 

"Minghao!"

Minghao quickly scampers out of the apartment, locking the door behind him.

* * *

"He's all yours." Mingyu greets Jun tiredly as he drops off Minghao where the practice rooms are. 

"Hello to you too." Jun says sarcastically, snickering slightly at Mingyu's tone. "What the hell's got you all done?"

Mingyu glares at Minghao, and the latter just makes a conscious effort to ignore Mingyu's glare boring holes through his head. "Your boyfriend. Keep him for the day. I want to spend time with Wonwoo without having to babysit Minghao. Honestly, I am so grateful for knowing about you, Jun-hyung. I don't have to babysit Minghao anymore." He gets a scuff on the head from Minghao for that statement.

Junhui just chuckles amusedly, opening the car door for Minghao. "Will do, Mingyu-ah." Minghao pouts at Junhui on the way out of the car. "You're not supposed to be helping him." 

The older boy just shrugs in response. Mingyu waves at the two before driving away. "You look very comfortable." Jun laughs as they walk towards their practice room. "I suddenly regret wearing these jeans."

Minghao gives Jun a once over and mentally thanks whatever god is up there. Honestly, Jun could wear pajamas to practice and Minghao would still find him very, very attractive. But Jun seems to be testing his patience with skinny black jeans and a slightly loose black shirt with one sleeve on one side and sleeveless on the other. Oh god, his arm. 

Minghao continues to suffer.

"I like your shirt." Minghao suddenly blurts out. Dammit. Jun glances down at his outfit and grins. "Thanks. Jeonghan-hyung got me this as a christmas gift and I never got around to wearing it until now. I didnt believe him when he said it'd fit me."

Minghao stares at Junhui's figure a bit longer than he would've liked to and mentally sighs. 

Yes, Xu Minghao is very much gay for Wen Junhui. (Well, he was gay to begin with anyway.) Jun was a work of art Minghao liked to admire, in the younger's simple words. He'd accepted his feelings simply as long as it stayed inside his comfort boundaries, and so he just dealt with those said feelings like that for the past month and a half.

Honestly, in Minghao's defense, when you spend nearly everyday with someone like Wen Junhui and you're supposed to keep up a romantic facade with him, it's just inevitable. 

Minghao puts down his bag to the side and watches as Jun starts setting up the sound system.

 _'Junhui-ge isn't hard to like at all.'_ Minghao muses. It's easy and simple and sly, because Jun-ge is just the type of person that you fall for eventually, platonically or romantically. 

He's got these annoying quirks about him that makes you just want to smash your fist against his face especially during the times when he's being a stubborn brat. But Minghao presumes, Junhui has more endearing traits that just flow out more. He's caring and would always values others' opinions over his, not wanting to inconvenience them. 

He cares for each of his friends specially and Minghao just can't help but wonder if Jun treats him extra specially only because of their arrangement. He hopes not, but Minghao subconsiously squashes that thought immediately. 

_My hopes are high, I must keep them small._

The opening tune of _My I_ begins to filter through the speakers and Jun joins Minghao in the middle of the room. 

"So, from the top first?" Jun queries and Minghao nods. They slip the ribbon on their wrists and Jun restarts the music.

* * *

After nearly practicing for two hours straight, Minghao finally collapses down on the floor, exhausted. Thank whoever's up there for Jun suggesting a break. He glares at the offending piece of white ribbon laying down on the floor, panting harshly.

"Fuck that ribbon. We barely made the second verse without it cutting off the blood circulation in our wrists." Minghao complains, leaning back on his palms flat on the floor. Junhui chuckles handing the younger a water bottle as he settles down beside Minghao. 

"Well, if you want, I know making a choreography is hard but I think we can tweak it a bit if you really dislike the ribbon. It does kinda take away the purpose of the red string soulmates thing but we can work it out." Junhui suggests, twirling his own water bottle between his fingers. 

Minghao rubs his shoes together, considering Junhui's suggestion. It would be a lot easier for the both of them if they did get rid of the ribbon for the choreo but Minghao couldn't imagine dacing this song detached from Junhui. And it also adds to the aesthetic and uniqueness of their showcase so...

"No. It's okay, ge." Minghao replies clearly. 

"You sure, Hao?" 

"Positive. ... We can work this out."

Junhui laughs, the sweet sound resonating around the practice room. "I wish I could be as confident as you, you know?"

Minghao cocks his head to the side. "You are, though?" Jun shakes his head, a small grin playing on his lips. "Ah, ah, Hao Hao. You forget that I am but a mere actor." Minghao swats at Jun's arm playfully, but with a frown on his face. "Shut up, ge. Give yourself more credit."

Minghao takes a long swig from his water bottle and stands up, offering his arm to Jun. "Let's try again. The choreo isn't going to magically learn itself."

* * *

"If you've got a dancing fairy godmother, Hao..." Jun panted, hands on his knees. "Better call them now or so help me, I will shred this fucking ribbon into a thousand pieces."

Minghao frowned up at Jun from where he was laying flat on his back on the floor, rubbing his pinkish wrist. "You wouldn't do that." 

"No, I wouldn't." Jun finds himself agreeing. "But if you don't cut off the part where we need to roll over, I gotta cut something else and it won't be a dance move."

Minghao sighs, equally as tired as Jun. He doesn't want to give up on this choreo but at this rate, they have no choice but to.

"Well, he's not a fairy godmother sorry to disappoint, but I have someone in mind that can help us." Minghao gestures for Junhui to hand him his phone.

"Um, so I met him when I first came to Korea in a dance class. He's chinese too and he's a "97 liner just like me so yeah, definitely not a fairy godmother. I think he can help. He's really good at martial arts type of dancing by the way. He's also kinda soft-spoken and quiet but he's nice."

Jun watches as Minghao dials a contact and raises the phone to his ear. Judging from the way Minghao talked about him, it didn't seem like they had anything special, but it didn't ease the uncomfortable feeling in his gut.

Meanwhile, Minghao chews on his lower lip as he waits for the other boy to answer his phone. He wonders if Jun-hyung would like _him_ and suddenly a scenario forms inside his head when Jun-hyung likes his friend a bit too much.

He contemplates hanging the phone up for a moment but Minghao catches himself and tries to force the thought out of his head. He will not let a certain green-eyed monster get in the way of his friendships. He will not.

A click on the other side of the line signals that his call has been answered and Minghao's throat tightens. He spares a glance at Jun, who's now wiping his hair dry with a towel, effectively mussing it up and looking a whole lot hotter. 

"Minghao?"

A familiar voice with a soft chinese lilt called out his name. Minghao breathes in slowly, forcing himself to not potentially ruin an amazing friendship he had. After all, _he_ didn't do anything wrong. Therefore, _he_ doesn't deserve this.

Minghao mentally prays that Jun-hyung doesn't find _him_ attractive but everyone knows that's impossible. 

Minghao feels his jealousy waver a bit and he finally answers back in chinese.

"Hey Sicheng. Sorry to bother you but are you free now?"

* * *

Sicheng arrives nearly 30 minutes later, soft light brown hair all messed up and windy, sends a soft sheepish smile towards Minghao.

A smile subconsciously spread on Minghao's face at the sight of his friend, the ugly feeling in Jun growing stronger at the sight of Minghao's genuine, beautiful smile not directed at him.

"Sorry I was late. Jaehyun held me back a bit. Blame him." Sicheng laughs softly. "So, what do you need me for?"

Minghao sighs internally, literally everything about Sicheng was soft and precious and hearing Jaehyun's name just fall from Sicheng's lips made Minghao's smile drop.

It wasn't that Jaehyun was a bad guy. It was just that he wasn't exactly a good one. Or maybe just because the fact that Minghao decided that Sicheng was just too precious for anyone to actually deserve him.

While Minghao was still having an internal monologue over how Jaehyun definitely didn't deserve his soft, soft, Sicheng, Jun doesn't miss the way Minghao's smile drops when Jaehyun is mentioned and his gut clenches painfully.

"I will." Minghao replies and Sicheng breaks a small grin. "But anyway, you know about the art showcase, right?"

Sicheng shrugs his shoulders, tilting his head a bit. "Duh."

"Don't me, Win Win." Minghao retorts, a teasing gleam in his eyes. "I'm sorry, The8-ssi." Sicheng retaliates, drawing out Minghao's stage name. 

"Well, this is Junhui-ge. Ge, this is Dong Sicheng. He's my friend." Minghao grabs Junhui's wrist and pulls him closer. "Sicheng, Junhui's my... um, my boyfriend ?"

Sicheng laughs at that. "You don't sound so sure, Minghao." Minghao's eyes widen at that and suddenly he can't look at Junhui anymore. "I'm joking. I'm joking. So, I take it that you two will be performing at the showcase together?"

"If we make the cut." Junhui mumbles. 

"Don't be too pessimistic, Junhui-ge." Minghao tries not to frown at Sicheng's sudden casual way of talking to Jun. "Um, so Minghao called me here for help?"

"Yeah. I thought it would be easier to fix the choreography with an outside perspective. Our dance is sort of... connected. We're using the red string theory as the concept." Minghao explains.

"Nice. You've always been a romantic, Haoie." Sicheng says and Junhui openly frowns at the nickname. _'I thought I was the only one who called him that?'_

"So, we'll show you the dance first. Or what we have currently... Stay there, and c'mon Junhui-ge."

Sicheng walks over by the wall opposite the large floor-to-ceiling mirror while Minghao readies the music and moves to their starting position, back pressed against Jun's.

Music starts and they begin to walk further apart. They manage to do it as cleanly as they could, easing and bullshitting their way through the choreography, trying not to wince everytime the rope tugged tighter on their wrists.

Minghao hears Jun curse softly as he misses the ribbon and Minghao feels like tearing the damn thing apart once Jun turns around in the second verse. 

Minghao really is contemplating murder to the white ribbon as soon as they front roll in opposite directions. Funnily enough, his favorite part of the choreo is the chorus and the end part where they _take off the damn ribbon._

"Okay." Sicheng starts as soon as Minghao turns off the music. "That was physically painful to watch. Like I could feel my wrists feeling the same pain everytime you guys wince. But don't get me wrong, the choreography has loads of potential holy shit. It was so fucking good, honestly. Just... needs a lot of fixing."

"Don't tell me." Minghao grumbles, leaning on the wall beside Sicheng.

"For starters, maybe you could add an extra foot or two to the ribbon. It's too short for the choreography in my opinion." Sicheng suggests. "For the second verse, when Jun-ge turns around, I feel like it would be easier if Jun-ge kneels down so it's more versatile rather than having your entire frame be wrapped by the ribbon and Minghao-ah gets focused on. ...that is his line during that part though, right?"

Minghao squints, trying to picture Sicheng's changes to the choreography while Jun answers for him. "Yeah."

"Can you two try to position yourselves during that part? Please?" Sicheng tacks on at the end, windering if he was being a bit too controlling. Apparently, he voices that thought out loud and Jun's quick to assure him that he's not. "We're really thankful for your help, don't worry. You're an angel really, thank you."

Minghao forces down a scowl, his squint turning more into a glare, focusing it on Jun instead. _'Sichengie's got a boyfriend already, Jun-ge. And so do you.'_

"Thanks ge." Sicheng replies, paired up with a really dazzling smile. Minghao turns away to walk over to his bag and take a swig of water. _'Jaehyun-ah's not going to like you being all friendly with another guy, Winwinnie._

At this point, Minghao absolutely gives no more fucks about his jealousy as long as his thoughts stay thoughts and thoughts only. Because honestly, the nerve of Jun being all sweet and gentlemanly to Sicheng in front of him!

(That was only Jun's natural nature but okay Minghao.)

When he returns to the two, they're both wearing the ribbon, Sicheng filling up Minghao's role and Jun kneeling infront of Sicheng, back turned and adjusting the ribbon.

"Hao-ah, um this is what I was suggesting earlier and yeah, the move does go smoother this way and um, are you okay?" Sicheng breaks off, looking worried at Minghao's completely blank face. 

Jun frowns but he immediately takes off the ribbon and walks over to Minghao, holding his wrist gently. "Maybe he's just a bit tired? I'll just bring him out for fresh air, is that okay Sicheng-ah?" 

Sicheng looks worried but he nods nevertheless. "Sure, go on."

Jun tugs Minghao just outside of the building, biting his lip worriedly. "What's wrong, Haohao? Why do you actually seem mad? Are you that frustrated because of the choreography? Sicheng's already helping us fix it so it'll be less of a problem. Don't worry, I'm tired but I'm pretty sure we can do this-" 

Minghao grips the front of Jun's shirt and pulls the elder forward, burying his face against Junhui's chest. "...Hao?"

_'Yah, Xu Minghao. What's wrong with you? Sicheng's a really close friend of yours and Junhui-hyung isn't interested in him. Probably. Stop overthinking and get a grip of yourself. You're ruining things, aish.'_

They just stand there for a couple of minutes, Minghao trying to get ahold of himself and Jun awkwardly trying to comfort him.

Minghao hesitantly pulls himself away from Junhui, head still hung down, facing the ground. "Sorry. Yeah, I was just... tired. Let's go back. I'm good to go."

* * *

They go back to the practice room and Minghao apologizes to Sicheng as well who's just confused and relieved that Minghao's alright.

They stay in the practice rooms with Sicheng helping them smoothen out and fix their choreography straight until 8 pm when Jaehyun drops by to pick up his boyfriend and Minghao sours at having Sicheng taken away from them.

"Maybe we should go too? We've been practicing for long enough and I think that we definitely did a lot of progress today. We've got nearly another month to go."

Minghao sighs but grudgingly peels himself off the floor and starts to pack up. "Okay. You think we can finish this in time?" 

Jun smiles at him. "I know we can finish this in time. Don't be too pessimistic, Haohao."

They walk back to the dorms together, Jun humming the song under his breath. "Minghao?"

"Hmm?"

"You're an amazing dancer and everyone gets frustrated sometimes. Don't apologize next time. It's not your fault."

Minghao bites his lip in guilt, knowing that it really was his fault. 

"Thanks, Junhui-ge."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes Sicheng is here bc i started stanning NCT as well and i absolutely love winwin okay and i made jaehyun the boyfriend bc why not ? 
> 
> then next chapter will be abt the actual showcase and maybe a big event as well?  
> idk its a surprise  
> but im going to start speeding this up a little bc my chapters are so long and i feel like im drawing out the slow burn a bit too slowly so yeah 
> 
> next chapter's also going to be a month long timeskip from this one :|
> 
> please leave comments and kudoses bc they actually motivate me a lot to write these long ass chapters and no im not going to be the type of author that blackmails the readers 'to comment and leave kudoses or else i wont update' kinda shit. thanksssss :>
> 
> and to solve any inconsistencies, this day was a saturday so no work, no dance studio, no school and they fixed their schedules in the cafe and dance studio so their schedules would be free on weekends and they could completely focus on the choreography bc they don't give an eff abt their hw (lol jk)


	9. my i

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jun was right. They've perfected this already. The ribbon is now more than just a ribbon. It's their red string. Minghao and Jun move perfectly just like they planned. Just like they wanted. 
> 
> They're completely connected to each other. They dance through the song easily, completely immersed in music, the moves naturally instilled in them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> note: they're wearing the outfits they wore in the intro of the my i mv to match with their hair since mh is blonde and jun is black haired here
> 
> heads up: angst ??? 
> 
> omg im so sorry i havent updated in a long time i had a really bad writers block and im so so sorry i cant believe i last updated in april wtf

"Hey." 

Wonwoo turns to see Mingyu entering his apartment, shaking his soft brown hair. "Hi. Was it raining?" 

"Nope." Mingyu drops his jacket and bag on the couch. "A bit damp but I think its going to be sunny later. Did Jun hyung leave already?"

"Yeah, even before lunch. I hope he ate with Minghao or something." Wonwoo replies, handing Mingyu hair gel and a comb. "Fix my hair?"

Mingyu laughs softly but accepts anyway. "You look beautiful enough. But you rarely fix up so okay." He pecks Wonwoo's cheek lightly before sitting his boyfriend on one of the counter stools. 

"Do you think they'll be okay?" 

"I hope so. I didn't have to listen to Minghao whine for days for nothing." 

Wonwoo chuckles lowly, Mingyu smiling at the familiar sound of Wonwoo's laugh. "You big baby."

"Your big baby." Wonwoo mimes gagging and Mingyu slaps him on the arm playfully. "You love it."

"I don't. I do love you though. Unfortunately." 

"Who's cheesy now?"

"Still you." Wonwoo eyes his boyfriend, giving him a once over. "Is that what you're really wearing?"

Mingyu stares down at his plain white shirt and slim gray pants. "I think I look good. Simple but good. I'm naturally handsome anyway."

"Yuck." Wonwoo reaches out to jab at a stain at the bottom hem of the shirt. "At least change your top. I'm pretty sure I still have some of your clothes."

"Yeah, I noticed. You're wearing my old highschool shirt now." Wonwoo looked up at Mingyu, feigning innocence. "Really? I hadn't noticed." 

Mingyu shakes his head, a small smirk on his lips as he makes Wonwoo face front again. He gives Wonwoo's hair one last brush through and pecks the older boy on the temple.

"I'm going to change now. You should too. I'm not letting you wear that shirt if you won't let me wear this."

Wonwoo steps on the stool and hops on Mingyu's back. "I wasn't planning to anyway. C'mon. By the way, I call dibs on your black bomber jacket. You can wear that gray blazer."

"You had that? Explains why I couldn't find it. Why can't you wear your own black bomber jacket? We could be matching."

"No thanks. Because yours is oversized and comfier. Now giddy up, we can't be late to their showcase."

* * *

"...its the real thing already. Are you nervous?" Jun's voice filters through Minghao's jumbled thoughts. The show had already started and was halfway through the first part and thankfully, Jun and Minghao were set to perform in the second part. 

They were already dressed in their stage outfits and Jeonghan might hunt them down later to touch up on their makeup. They decided to wear opposing colors, Jun in white and Minghao in black, further emphasizing their contrasting hair colors. 

Currently, they were situated outside one of the waiting rooms backstage, Minghao sitting on some metal steps, head in his hands while Jun was simply leaning against the railing, petting Minghao's hair.

"You think?" Minghao croaks out sarcastically. "I'm completely confident right now, ge. It's not like it looks like I'm on the verge of pulling my hair out or anything."

Jun tugs lightly on Minghao's hair in retaliation and Minghao visibly relaxes. "You like that?" The elder questions curiously, with a hint of mischief in his voice. 

"I don't know. And don't you dare make a greasy remark about this, you ass." Minghao says before Junhui could even start. "It's just relaxing. Do it again."

Jun fights back a smirk and continues tugging at Minghao's hair softly, massaging his scalp from time to time. "Thank you ge." Jun simply hums in amusement, making Minghao slap him on the arm. "Shut up."

"I didn't say anything."

"But you were thinking it."

Minghao sighs, slipping his fingers through the rips in his jeans and tracing circles randomly on his skin. He starts humming the melody of "My I" slowly, his voice shaking.

"Why are you so scared? You've performed lots of times, I don't see why this is any different. Besides, you're not performing alone." Jun says, continuously carding his fingers through Minghao's hair.

"I'm performing with you."

_'I'm performing with you.'_

"You've got nothing to be worried about."

_'That's everything I'm worried about.'_

"We've practiced this perfectly. I'm pretty sure you've got complete control over yourself at this point."

_'Trust me, I dont. I don't trust myself to have control around you at this point. God knows what I might do at the end of the dance, hell, I might kiss you.'_

Minghao bites his lip, trying to push out the thoughts of his feelings out. Maybe it wasn't a good idea watching romcoms two days ago. 

"Besides, if we fuck up," Junhui chuckles, "we can always drink it away."

Minghao immediately snaps up to look at Junhui, a confused expression taking on his face. "What?"

"You don't remember Seungcheol-hyung's party? He's throwing one tonight to celebrate the showcase, or that's what he says. He invited us two weeks ago. Didn't I tell you?"

"I- I guess I forgot."

"Oh, okay. You still up for it though?"

He meets Junhui's gaze and the older boy is looking up at him with this absolute pleading look on his face, complete with those damned puppy eyes.

"Yeah. To celebrate."

Junhui grins at him, all cute and happy and Minghao doesn't mind spending his tired night with a bunch of drunk college students with alchohol and bad decisions as long as Jun's happy.

* * *

"Xu Minghao and Wen Junhui?" The girl from earlier popped her head in. Seunghee or Seungyeon something. 

"Yeah, that's us." Junhui answers for the both of them.

"Okay. You two are up after this next group. Be ready."

"Okay. Thanks."

Minghao grips Jun's hand, a sinking feeling at the bottom of his stomach. At least he wasn't worried about fucking up at the end of the performance anymore. He was worried about fucking up during the performance. 

"Ge." Minghao whispered. "What if the ribbon tangles up?"

"We take it off and continue as choreographed. Hao, don't worry."

"What if we trip?"

"Get up and continue as choreographed. Look." Jun kneeled in front of Minghao, looking up at him and staring him straight in the eyes. "Haohao, there's nothing to be worried about. We've perfected this already. Heck, we could dance this blindfolded. I trust you to do this. I trust us. Can you?"

Minghao doesn't say anything, his shaking gaze staring back at Junhui's steady one. "Hao."

"Yes."

Jun lifts his hands up to caress Minghao's jaw. "Okay."

"Guys?" Seung-something pops in again. "Ready?"

Minghao nods and answers for them this time. "Yep."

* * *

It was nerve-wracking. And Minghao was shaking. He takes his place in the middle of the stage, his back pressed up against Jun's broader one.

The lights were still off and Minghao could hear the sound of the audience softly chattering amongst themselves about the earlier performance. He hears praises about how the performance was so good and so clean and so... wow. 

Jun feels his partner trembling, and immediately interlaces their fingers together, squeezing lightly in assurance. 

The dim blue and white lights finally flick open above them, highlighting them. Minghao hears Mingyu's voice vaguely yell out his name from the audience and both of them chuckle lightly after hearing other people shush the tall boy. 

The first few notes of the song finally starts and both of them inhale in unison, taking in the music, the atmosphere, the dance. They take two steps forward, further from each other and they've finally started. 

Jun starts mouthing along to his part and both of them have finally shrugged off the nervousness and it's just the two of them. 

Jun was right. They've perfected this already. The ribbon is now more than just a ribbon. It's their red string. Minghao and Jun move perfectly just like they planned. Just like they wanted. 

They're completely connected to each other. They dance through the song easily, completely immersed in music, the moves naturally instilled in them.

Before Minghao realizes, he's already kneeling opposite Junhui, the ribbon held up between their crossed wrists and chest heaving, breathless. The audience is deafening and Jun grins. 

A lot of people have stood up to give them a standing ovation, some yelling in awe, some just quietly amazed. Mingyu is yelling about how proud he is of them and how he knows the two amazing dancers. Wonwoo just stands beside his boyfriend, beaming widely and clapping. 

"We did it."

* * *

Mingyu bursts in backstage, followed by Wonwoo, Seokmin, and Jisoo. The youngest of the four immediately bounds over to the pair and holds them in a large bear hug. 

"You guys were so good up there! Everyone was so mesmerized! I was resisting the urge to yell out to everyone that that was my bestfriend up there!" 

Wonwoo lightly tugs Mingyu away, laughing. "That's true. He was. You guys were amazing by the way. It really paid off." Jun rubs his nape, grinning at his own bestfriend. "Yeah it did. Thanks."

"Hyung, I didn't know you'd even attend." Jun addresses Jisoo, giving the older a light hug. "Yeah, Seokmin told me to come. We didn't get to start the show though, but we came just in time for your performance. You guys totally killed it out there, by the way."

"Thanks hyung. Much appreciated." 

"By the way," Seokmin says, sitting on Jun's chair. "you guys going to Seungcheol hyung's party?"

Minghao looks at Jun who's too busy rifling through Jeonghan's bag for makeup wipes to answer. "Yeah." He answers for them. "By the way, why are you sitting down on Jun hyung's chair?"

"Huh why?"

Minghao stares at Seokmin blankly, waiting for him to get the hint. Luckily, Jisoo hyung catches it instead. "Oh! They're going to change, c'mon Seokmin." The older boy pulls Seokmin off the chair and gestures for Wonwoo and Mingyu to follow. "Aren't they going to the party like that? I mean, they look _good._ "

"No, Seokmin!" Minghao chucks a pack of tissues aimed at Seokmin's back. It hits Jisoo instead but he just gives Minghao an apologetic smile. "See you later guys."

"See you later hyung! Thanks for coming!"

* * *

They meet up with Soonyoung and Chan after the show, exchanging compliments and comments about each other's performances. 

They head off to Seungcheol's party together, along with the other four from earlier along with Jihoon, who hadn't bothered to enter the changing room earlier.

"Holy shit." Mingyu whispers in awe, once they've reached Seungcheol's house. "Hyung's loaded."

Soonyoung whistles appreciatively, taking in the sight of the huge house. "You know, I've always wanted to know what it feels like to be in college and not be broke. Like, you don't have to worry about money on atleast a monthly basis."

"Honestly, you guys are getting kinda rude by staring and I wanna tell you to stop but let me just say," Wonwoo mutters, loud of enough for all of them to hear. "same."

But Jihoon wasn't taking it, saying that sure Seungcheol was rich but they weren't that broke, they're just trying to fit into the stereotype of college students or maybe he was just really tired of standing around, gawking at Choi Seungcheol's house. "Let's go inside. The party isn't here on his fucking driveway."

Taeyong greets them first as soon as they step in the house, pulling Jun into a one-armed hug and pushing a red solo cup towards Mingyu. "Congrats, you two! Your performance was amazing!"

"Yeah, yours too." Minghao greeted back. "We watched it yesterday, it was amazing. You guys wrote your raps yourselves?" 

"Yep." Taeyong stole another red cup from a passing guy who he just grinned at in thanks. "Hey, see you guys around, I'll just go back to my boyfriend." He passed the solo cup to Minghao before releasing Jun and walking away. 

They spend the rest of night socializing around and drinking, Jun joining a beer pong game with a few other people while Minghao was getting himself utterly wasted. 

"Jun~" Minghao suddenly appears behind him, purring softly. Jun jumps slightly as Minghao's arms snake around his waist, cool lips pressing a soft against his neck. "I missed you."

"Minghao?" Jun cranes his neck to look at the younger boy currently cuddling him. "You're completely plastered, what the hell." He laughs as he takes in Minghao's state. He tosses the ping pong ball in his hand to Jackson and grabs a red solo cup from the triangle and downs it. "I'll bail out now, sorry guys."

"It's okay." Yanan laughs. The others watches along with amused smiles and smirks. "You go ahead and take care of your boyfriend."

"Whatever man."

He trails back into the living room, now carrying Minghao on his back as he walks around looking for Seungcheol. He finds him in the kitchen laughing with Jeonghan, their faces too close for comfort. 

"Hey, Seungcheol-hyung. Sorry to interrupt but uh, can you let us borrow a room? I'm putting Minghao to rest, I think he's had enough." 

"No~" Minghao whines, kicking his legs lightly. "I'm still good. Junnie, no, don't make me stop." Jun couldn't see Minghao's face at the time but he could basically hear the boy pouting. 

Seungcheol grins while Jeonghan just has a sly smile on his face. "Sure thing. Han, I'll come back okay?" He says pressing a quick kiss to Jeonghan's cheek. 

"Okay." Jeonghan smiles cutely. "And you two," Jun looks back at Jeonghan and knows what he's about to hear as soon as he sees Jeonghan's wink. "use protection."

Jun groans. "Shut up, hyung."

He follows Seungcheol upstairs, hitching Minghao higher on his back. "Hey Junnie." 

"Yeah?"

"You're so cute." Minghao suddenly laughs shyly and Jun's heart aches at his cuteness. Cheol chuckles lightly as he pulls out a key and unlocks a room. "Here you go. I locked all the bedrooms because I can't risk random people hooking up in them."

Jun laughs. "Smart move." Cheol leaves them alone, gives the key to Jun and heads back downstairs to Jeonghan. 

He lays Minghao down on the bed, then sits on the edge, leaning back on his hands. "Junnie." Minghao wasn't whiny anymore but he was pouting. "Hey, are you okay?" Jun immediately worries. "You know what, I should get you some water. Wait he-"

"Sit beside me." Minghao pats the empty space beside him. "I'm okay Junnie." Still confused, Junhui sits beside Minghao and the other boy immediately leans against him. Junhui reaches up and starts combing Minghao's hair. "Do you need anything?"

"How are you still not drunk?" Junhui laughs as the question. "I've got a high tolerance, i guess. But I am a bit tipsy." Minghao just hums in reply. 

After a few moments in silence, Minghao speaks up again. "Junnie." Jun replies again, completely unaware of the internal turmoil Minghao is dealing with right now. His heart is beating so loudly he's afraid Jun might hear it, his stomach filled with butterflies and he's barely shaking with anxiety. He's afraid but who cares? 

He's drunk meaning he could do or say anything without thinking of the consequences until the next morning. And that's why Minghao's going to do it. A nagging voice at the back of his head frantically tells him not to, saying that he'll regret it the next morning but his main head voice tells him that there are no consequences and that nothing's wrong with what he's about to do. 

Everything is perfectly okay.

Minghao sits facing Jun, sitting back on his heels, hands holding Jun's. "Hey Junnie." 

"Hi?" Jun laughs awkwardly. "What do you want?"

"I wanna tell you a secret."

"Oh. Okay then?" Jun looks at Minghao expectantly, patiently waiting but Minghao shakes his head and motions for Jun to come closer. 

He does and he comes too close that Minghao can clearly see his lashes and every part of Junhui's beautiful face and that's all it takes for Minghao to cup his face and kiss Wen Junhui.

Jun freezes but on a more involuntary note, his eyes flutter shut and he kisses back. They taste like beer and chips along with a faint taste of smoke, most probably from the party downstairs. Minghao's lips are soft and just fits perfectly against Junhui's. 

It wasn't ideal. The faint thumping of the bass from the music downstairs, the smell of alcohol and smoke around them, the fact that both of them had alcohol in their systems and Minghao was very intoxicated just didn't make it the ideal kiss. 

Jun suddenly snaps back to his sober headspace and detaches himself from Minghao, staring at the other boy in shock. "M-Mingh-"

"Junhui-ge." Minghao cuts Jun off in mandarin. His eyes were shining with euphoria. "I like you. I really like you a lot."

Junhui gulps. Minghao was telling him that he liked Jun. His crush likes him too. But...

"Minghao. You're drunk." 

Minghao frowns but he persists. "I know what I'm doi-"

"You don't really like me that way. You're drunk and you're not thinking straight."

"B-but Junhui-ge..." He holds Jun's wrist.

"Minghao no." Jun removes Hao's hand softly and gets off the bed. "I'll just go get some water. Just rest. I'm sorry for taking advantage of you." Minghao doesn't move, doesn't reply. Jun quietly leaves the dimmed room, locking it behind him. 

A rush of cold air runs through Minghao, knocking into him, realizing what he had just done. It immediately sobers him up and Jun's words instill in his mind. 

_"I'm sorry."_

He fucked up. Minghao collapses down on the bed, his soft sobs muffled by the pillow. He fucked up. Jun doesn't like him back. He'll never want to be with Minghao again. Jun doesn't like him back.

* * *

Jun spends a lot of time downstairs, mulling over what happened. He holds a full cup of beer the entire time but he doesn't drink a single drop, handing it over to Mingyu instead. 

By the time he goes back upstairs with a pitcher of water and a plastic cup, he finds Minghao passed out on the bed, asleep. He covers him up with a blanket and leaves the water on the beside table. 

Jun doesn't notice the dried tears on Minghao's cheeks or the way he painfully grips the pillows. He whispers an apology to the sleeping boy, leaves behind a note, and goes home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i firmly believe that this sucks and i am so sorry for making you guys wait :(((
> 
> anw follow my au acc on twt ig: @dkdkhaus

**Author's Note:**

> dont judge me jk  
> pls leave comments and kudos if u liked it and pls tell me how to improve oky bye 
> 
> tbh i feel like the 2nd chap is better okay  
>  
> 
> ALSO 고맙다 COMES OUT TOMORROW AND I AM H Y P E D OKAY


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